The City of Centralia paid $200,000 earlier this year to settle a lawsuit with the mother of an 18-year-old Centralia man who was fatally shot by former Centralia police officer Frederick Mercer in June 2019.
The lawsuit was filed in Lewis County Superior Court in June 2021 and was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled, on Feb. 28, 2024, according to court documents. The Washington Cities Insurance Authority paid the settlement on behalf of the City of Centralia to Harris’ estate on Jan. 30, 2024, according to public records provided to The Chronicle.
The settlement came out of the insurance authority’s risk pool and not out of direct city funds.
Joshua Flores was pronounced dead from a single gunshot wound to the chest on June 18, 2019, after officers responded to a reported burglary in the 1400 block of Logan Street, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
Three Centralia police officers, including Mercer, wound up in a standoff with Flores, who was holding a knife.
Police repeatedly commanded Flores to drop the knife while Flores repeatedly screamed “just do it,” according to prior reporting by The Chronicle. Dispatch audio of the incident indicates a witness said the man wielded an ax.
In a brief standoff — officers reportedly arrived on the scene at 4:55 a.m., and Mercer’s shot was reportedly fired at 5:05 a.m. — Flores had been shot in the chest and later died at a hospital, according to prior reporting by The Chronicle.
A Centralia Police Department news release regarding the shooting stated, “The suspect failed to comply with orders to stop advancing toward the officers and was shot.”
Following an investigation by a multi-jurisdictional critical incident investigation team, the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office ruled in July 2019 that the shooting was justified, according to Chronicle reporting at the time. In his ruling, Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer stated Mercer’s actions were “unavoidable based upon the actions of the deceased,” specifically that Flores “approached both Mercer and bystanders while he held the knife, ignoring orders from officers along the way,” according to previous Chronicle reporting.
Police reports noted Flores “suffered from mental problems and he had not been taking his medications” and “could become violent if off his medications. This is confirmed by prior contacts,” according to previous Chronicle reporting.
About 15 demonstrators protested outside the Centralia Police Department in June 2020 to demand justice for Flores, according to previous Chronicle reporting. A protest organizer interviewed by The Chronicle at the time contested some details in the police report of the June 18, 2019, incident, “Like whether Flores actually advanced on the officers in a threatening manner and what kind of danger the knife Flores was wielding actually presented to the officers,” a June 2020 article stated. Flores’ mother, Beatriz Alcantar, filed an administrative claim for damages on April 8, 2021, and filed the lawsuit against the City of Centralia and the three officers, including Mercer, about 60 days later, according to court documents.
The lawsuit alleged that the officers knew about Flores’ mental health issues, yet used excessive force and failed to de-escalate the encounter with him on June 18, 2019. The City of Centralia was accused of failing to adopt “more specific policies regarding police interaction with people suffering mental health crises.”
The lawsuit sought economic damages, damages from “emotional distress, pain and suffering and any medical expenses flowing therefrom,” punitive damages, attorney and court fees, tax consequences, “special damages in an amount to be proven at trial,” and “such other and future relief as the court may deem just and equitable,” according to court documents.
Alcantar was represented by Seattle-based attorneys Susan B. Mindenbergs and Vonda M. Sargent during the suit.
The three officers were represented by Olympia-based attorney John E. Justice.
Mercer entered law enforcement in 2009 and was hired at the Centralia Police Department in 2012, according to a previous news release. The Chronicle was unable to confirm his current employment status.
Police reforms enacted after Flores’ death
The Washington state Legislature developed and passed a series of 12 police reform laws during the 2021 legislative session that went into effect in June 2021. The laws were partially a response to protests in Washington and nationwide demanding systemic police reform following the murder of George Floyd during a Minneapolis police arrest.
The laws enacted major changes that were relevant in Flores’ case, including establishing a statewide standard for police use of force that directs officers to exhaust all possible de-escalation tactics before using force. In addition to complying with the new state laws, the Centralia Police Department introduced a pilot program, “Project Guardian,” in October 2023 that allows guardians to submit information about a loved one’s mental health issues and intellectual or developmental disabilities to the police department that officers will be able to access in the event of an interaction. By submitting an online form, the information is entered into the city’s dispatch system for confidential use by law enforcement in several ways: before officers arrive to calls where the individual is known to be involved; before officers arrive to calls at residences known to be associated with the individual; and after an officer has arrived to a call and has determined the individual’s identity, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
The police dispatch system produces an alert indicating the individual is a participant of Project Guardian. Dispatch then relays details to the officer about the individual including specific triggers, typical behaviors, calming measures and other strategies to be used during a crisis. The program was first created by the Newport News Police Department and adapted by the Yakima Police Department before it was utilized in Centralia, according to previous Chronicle reporting. The Chehalis Police Department announced Tuesday that it was also participating in the program.
