Clark County has agreed to settle a lawsuit arising from the October 29, 2020, deputy-involved shooting of Kevin Peterson, Jr.  The county and its insurers have agreed to pay Mr. Peterson’s family a sum of $1.25 million.

Three Clark County Sheriff’s Deputies shot Mr. Peterson during a Clark-Vancouver Regional Drug Task Force drug “buy-bust” operation.  Mr. Peterson had armed himself with a Glock .40 handgun and fled on foot in an attempt to avoid arrest. Over the course of several minutes, deputies ordered Mr. Peterson to drop the gun and gave him numerous opportunities to surrender, but Mr. Peterson instead pointed his handgun at deputies. 

Clark County Prosecuting Attorney, Tony Golik, requested the Lower Columbia Major Crimes Team to conduct an independent investigation, and they agreed to do so.  Once that investigation was complete, the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office asked the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for an independent prosecutor review. They conducted an independent review and determined the shooting was justified and lawful as, “There was no legal requirement for the officers to allow Mr. Peterson to fire first before defending themselves… ‘similarly situated reasonable’ police officers would uniformly ‘have believed that the use of deadly force was necessary to prevent death or serious physical harm to the officer or another individual.’” 

“While the loss of life is always tragic, I fully support the actions of my deputies, who acted in accordance with their training and the law to protect themselves and our community, said Sheriff John Horch. “We will continue to focus on our mission to serve and protect. I stand firmly behind the men and women of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.” 

This settlement allows the parties to move on from this unfortunate event.