UPDATE | 2 dead after knife fight in Pasco ends with police shooting suspected attacker
A man shot by Pasco police is dead following a deadly knife fight on Lewis Street on Sunday.
The Regional Special Investigations Unit released an update Monday morning saying the person suspected of stabbing and killing another man had died after being taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.
Few additional details were released Monday about what happened Sunday, and the names of the two men were not released.
Police and coroner officials were trying to confirm the identities of the men and to notify their families, according to a news release from the Special Investigations Unit.
Someone called 11:40 a.m. Sunday to report two men fighting near West Lewis Street and Sixth Avenue near downtown Pasco.
When police arrived, they found a man on the ground with stab wounds and another armed with a knife. Pasco police tried to save the wounded man, but he died at the scene, Pasco police said in a release.
When two officers approached the man with a knife, he charged at them, according to police reports.
Officers tried to talk with him and de-escalate the confrontation, but he continued to advance toward the officers, according to police.
One or both officers shot and wounded the man, according to the report. Then, the officers provided medical aid until an ambulance arrived but he was pronounced dead at the Richland hospital.
Pasco Police Chief Ken Roske, in coordination with county Prosecutor Shawn Sant, asked the Regional Special Investigations Unit (SIU) to take over the entire case including the stabbing.
The unit of specially trained detectives is called in to handle investigations of officer-involved shootings in Benton, Franklin and Walla Walla counties.
“SIU investigators worked late Sunday night in various aspects of this investigation,” said the release from SIU Incident Commander Randy Maynard.
He said the Washington State Patrol Crime Scene Response Team helped investigators collect evidence at the scene on Lewis Street, which was closed for several hours on Sunday.
The names of the officers involved in the shooting are expected to be released on Tuesday.
Police are asking anyone with information about the shooting to contact:
- Richland Sgt. Damon Jansen at djansen@ci.richland.wa.us or 509-942-7353
- Benton County Sheriff’s Sgt. Carlos Trevino at carlos.trevino@co.benton.wa.us or 509-735-6555
- Franklin County Sheriff’s Sgt. Marcus Conner at mconner@co.franklin.wa.us or 509-545-3501.
This story was originally published March 13, 2022 at 6:51 PM.