PORT ANGELES — One man died in an officer-involved shooting following a bank alarm in downtown Port Angeles.
Two Port Angeles police officers who responded to the hold-up alarm Friday morning encountered a man with a handgun outside Chase Bank, 101 W. Front St., Police Chief Brian Smith and Clallam County Sheriff Brian King said in a prepared statement.
“The facts as we believe them to be now tell us that the PAPD Officers were confronted with a lethal threat and that they carried out their duties to protect the public and other officers,” the statement said.
It was not immediately clear whether one or both of the officers fired their weapons.
Police officers and sheriff’s deputies immediately provided emergency medical aid to the man, and firefighter/paramedics from the Port Angeles Fire Department responded and initiated advanced life-support measures, police said.
The man, who remained unidentified Friday afternoon, died at the scene. There were no other known suspects, according to a press release from the city of Port Angeles.
“There are victims out there,” King said at a press conference Friday afternoon at the Clallam County Courthouse. “There were acts of heroism by the officers today, but there are employees of Chase Bank that had to live in terror.
“Their friends and family are hurting today.”
The Kitsap Critical Incident Response Team (KCIRT) took over the investigation after the scene was secured, but road closures remained on Front Street between Lincoln Street and Oak Street, and Laurel Street between First Street and Railroad Avenue.
Westbound traffic on Front Street was being re-routed to Lincoln Street to get to U.S. Highway 101, the city press release said. The detour was expected to be in place for about 12 hours.
A group of 24 students from Roosevelt Elementary School was near the incident, the Port Angeles School District reported in an email to parents. They were immediately evacuated to the nearest safe location. No students or staff were injured, the district said.
School district staff worked with law enforcement to ensure the students returned to Roosevelt safely, the district said.
The school district arranged for additional school counselors to be on-site for the rest of the day, according to the email to parents. The counseling support will continue to be available for students and staff next week.
Peninsula Communications dispatch center received notification of the hold-up call at 9:52 a.m., police said. Port Angeles police officers arrived at the bank shortly thereafter. Clallam County Sheriff’s deputies and officers from the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe also responded.
At 9:57 a.m., Port Angeles police officers reported a man at the scene was being uncooperative. Soon afterward, shots were fired.
“It was determined that the Port Angeles Police Department (PAPD) Officer(s) used deadly force by firing their duty weapons at the suspect,” police said in the prepared statement.
KCIRT will investigate the underlying crime and the use of force, police said. The overall incident management, coverage of additional calls within the city, traffic control and other issues will be handled by the interagency incident management team.
Law enforcement agencies assisting with security and traffic control included the Elwha police, Washington State Patrol, the National Park Service, the U.S. Border Patrol and the Sequim Police Department.
The Port Angeles Police Department will not be involved in the criminal investigation of the incident, Smith said. PAPD will later conduct an internal investigation, he said.
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Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-417-3521 or by email at brian.mclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
Port Angeles Police Chief Brian Smith, left, and Clallam County Sheriff Brian King conduct a briefing at the Clallam County Courthouse on Friday following an officer-involved fatal shooting earlier in the day outside Chase Bank at Front and Laurel streets in downtown Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
