Pasco man ID’d as victim of downtown knife attack

A 42-year-old Pasco man was identified Thursday as the victim of a stabbing at a downtown intersection Sunday. His apparent attacker was then shot and killed when he turned on police, say investigators.

Investigators believe Gabriel T. Artz, 30 attacked Miguel Cortez-Palafox with a knife near the corner of Sixth Avenue and Lewis Street, according to the Regional Special Investigations Unit (SIU).

Cortez-Palafox is the last person to be identified by the unit in Sunday’s fatal stabbing incident.

There was a delay in releasing Cortez-Palafox’s name because investigators said they had trouble contacting his family members, according to an earlier release from Commander Randy Maynard with the investigations unit.

Cortez-Palafox died from the wounds he suffered during the fight, according to Maynard.

Pasco police officials asked the SIU detectives to investigate both the stabbing and the shooting that followed it. The unit is called in to investigate officer-involved shootings in Benton, Franklin and Walla Walla counties.

It’s not clear what the fight was about, but several people called 911 to report the confrontation at 11:40 a.m.

Officers Jasen McClintock, Jeremy Jones and a third unnamed officer arrived at the scene around the same time. The unnamed officer went to help the Cortez-Palafox, who was alive but died shortly after.

The other two approached Artz and, according to initial reports, he was still carrying a knife.

The officers talked to him in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, but he continued to advance toward the officers, said police.

One or both of the officers shot Artz after he “appeared to initiate an attack attempt on the officers,” Maynard said in a previous release.

The officers immediately provided first aid until Pasco paramedics arrived and took him to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, where he was pronounced dead.

This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 5:00 AM.