Seriously?
JOANNA ROTHKOPF
A Washington (state) man, who has
requested that his identity be withheld, was mistakenly shot by police after
calling 911 to report that he had spotted a wanted suspect. Seriously.
The man had called the cops to
say that he had seen John Kendall, a 59-year-old wanted for shooting his neighbor,
33-year-old Abigail Mounce in the face with a rifle earlier that day. When the
SWAT team arrived at the scene, they saw a man who matched Kendall’s
description and fired.
The police explained: “Law
enforcement personnel watched as the citizen (believed to be Kendall) exited
his vehicle and circled behind his trunk. Fearing that he armed himself, law
enforcement fired multiple shots at the individual in order to stop the
perceived threat before the citizen could enter the woods.”
Local NBC affiliate KGW.com
reports on the baffling events:
The man was shot in the leg. He
took cover behind a gravel pile and fired a shot back, then he called 911
again, this time to report that he had been shot.
Officers made contact with the
man and provided first aid until he was taken to a local hospital for
treatment.
Kendall was found nearby a
short time later with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was dead
before police arrived, but he and his vehicle were obscured from the view of
the SWAT team, according to the police statement.
It is unclear from published
reports whether the police gave the man orders to stand down before firing.
The officers who shot at the
man, Vancouver Police Corporal Chris LeBlanc, 47, Vancouver Police Officer
Brian Frances, 38 and Clark County Deputy Anthony Spainhower, 39 have been
placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.
