The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office has publicly identified Michael D. Williams as the man killed in a Sept. 27 shootout with police in Vancouver.
A Vancouver officer shot and killed Williams, 56, after police said he fired at law enforcement. The sheriff’s office said multiple shots hit an occupied armored police vehicle.
Law enforcement had arrived outside Williams’ home in the 5400 block of Northeast 71st Street after 911 callers said Williams was armed and making threats.
Officers tried to communicate with Williams and asked him to let the two female residents of the home to leave, but he threatened to shoot at the officers, police said at the time. Williams fired a round into the air and then barricaded himself in his house.
After an hours-long standoff, “the subject was reportedly observed near the rear door of his residence with a rifle in hand and appeared to be targeting officers on scene,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement released Thursday. “A Vancouver police officer assigned to the Southwest Washington Regional SWAT Team fired one round at this time, striking the subject.”
The officer who fired the shot is on critical incident leave, as is standard practice. The Lower Columbia Major Crimes Team continues to investigate the shooting.
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