Pasco man dies hours after confrontation with Kennewick police

Police are investigating the death of a Pasco man after an officer tried shocking him with a Taser outside Park Middle School.

A Kennewick police officer is on paid administrative leave and the Special Investigations Unit is looking into Thursday night’s death of Nicolas J. Garza, 27, said Sgt. Ken Lattin.

Police did not release the name of the officer involved.

Garza was spotted about 7:25 p.m. in the parking lot of the Kennewick middle school, possibly suffering from a medical problem. A passerby called 911.

Before police arrived, Garza began to display “abnormal behavior,” Kennewick Commander Trevor White said in a news release.

It’s not clear what he was doing but officers arrived before paramedics to assess the situation and saw that Garza had a knife.

When he refused to step away from the knife, the officer tried to shock him with a Taser, said Lattin.

The stunning device didn’t seem to work or fully connect, Garza calmed down, and was loaded into an ambulance and taken to Trios Southridge Hospital.

He died at the hospital hours later, said Benton County Deputy Coroner Bill Leach.

An autopsy is scheduled for Saturday morning.