An independent regional team in southwest Washington has finished its investigation into the October fatal shooting of Kfin Karuo by Clark County sheriff’s deputies and sent the case to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for review.
Clark County Prosecutor Tony Golik said this week he plans to request a panel of outside prosecutors to help assess whether the deputies’ actions were legally justified, The Columbian reported.
The Vancouver Police Department, which led the investigation into the Oct. 17 fatal shooting, was tracking Karuo, 28, before the shooting and said he was wanted for allegedly pointing a handgun at a man in a Sept. 29 incident.
Investigators said deputies were attempting to stop Karuo in connection with the alleged incident in east Vancouver. After the sheriff's office said he refused to stop and later pointed a gun at deputies, two deputies fatally shot him.
In addition to forwarding the case to prosecutors, investigators gave a briefing to Clark County Sheriff’s Office administration and community members assigned to the investigation.
Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Vancouver chapter jointly urged Justice Department officials to open a federal investigation into the Vancouver Police Department and the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. The groups are asking the DOJ to look into the agencies’ “pattern of deadly force, disparate policing, and favoritism toward known white supremacist extremist groups.”
The agencies combined have shot and killed eight people since 2019, including five people of color and three people experiencing homelessness.