Heavily-armed SWAT officers late Tuesday night surrounded a shed where a man who allegedly shot a pregnant woman, and then a sheriff’s deputy, was holed up.
The deputy who was shot was not believed to be seriously injured. The man shot and killed himself about midnight Tuesday.
The case surfaced at 8:03 p.m. Tuesday when police and paramedics rushed to where the woman had been shot in the abdomen in the 3900 block of Northeast 62nd Avenue, just north of state Highway 500 and west of Andresen Road.
The woman called 911 saying she’d been shot with a handgun and was five months pregnant.
Officers with both Clark County Sheriff’s Office and Vancouver Police Department rushed to the scene.
The woman told dispatchers the man who shot her was still in the area.
The first officers arrived quickly and said they were looking inside the home for the assailant. After a few minutes, officers radioed that the house was secure enough to send in paramedics to help the injured woman.
Officers asked for an ambulance to come to the driveway. Paramedics with AMR Northwest ambulance service rushed the woman to a hospital. Her condition was not available Tuesday night.
At 8:27 p.m., numerous officers were taking positions around the area looking for a balding, bearded white man, age 30 to 40. He was described as weighing about 210 pounds.
A tracking dog was summoned to the scene.
At 9:03 p.m., an officer radioed that the dog was showing interest in an interior door of a shed on the property, and then that it appeared they had found the assailant.
“We’re trying to call him out,” an officer radioed.
But then a couple of minutes later, officers radioed that shots had been fired, and immediately added, “We need to get an ambulance up to the house!”
Officers said an officer had been hit, and radioed for armored equipment to be rushed to the area and for “a full SWAT call-out.”
It was later reported that the deputy had been shot but the bullet did not penetrate into his body, apparently because it hit a ballistic shield or other equipment.
The officer was rushed to a hospital by ambulance and wasn’t thought to be seriously injured, according to preliminary reports.
Police said the assailant had gained possession of one of their ballistic shields during the shooting. They called for a gas launcher, more shields, a robot to collect the missing shield and one or more armored vehicles.
As SWAT officers surrounded the man in the shed about 10 p.m., they asked that nearby homes be evacuated and began bringing equipment to illuminate the shed area.
They also discussed fields of fire where no one else could be hit by their possible future gunshots, and decided which officers would be the “designated shooters.”
At The Columbian’s deadline late Tuesday night, officials had not provided the names of the woman, assailant or police officer.
The home where officers were originally sent, after the woman called 911 and said she’d been shot, is owned by Sandra L. Pyle, according to county records.
The woman told dispatchers she had been shot by her brother. County records show an Anthony J. Pyle, 38, living at the same address.
At 10:52 p.m., an officer said, “We do have movement inside, he just peeked out.”
Officers added that the assailant was still alive, and asked officers with loud speakers to start calling the man out.
At 11 p.m., more shots were heard and officers were ordered to wear gas masks.
Officers said the assailant was being sought on suspicion of attempted murder of the woman and three police officers.
Officers then said to get gas masks later and said they were going to use something, possibly a large robot, to push the door open, and said it appeared that the assailant had blocked it.
At 11:02 p.m., officers said the man had fired more shots at their robot.
They said trained negotiators were speaking with him on the phone. The man warned people to leave or someone would get hurt, and also said he was making suicidal statements.
Officers were told to put on their gas masks in preparation for going into the building. They also were continuing to use robots in an attempt to unblock the door.
They said the man was moving inside.
“I need to go to gas right now,” an officer said. Meanwhile, a negotiator was still trying to speak with the man.
At 11:11 p.m., officers said the man said he had not been shot in the exchange with officers. He said he had a 9mm handgun and had placed items against the door to barricade it.
The man told a negotiator he was doing more to barricade his door, and warned that he had 36 rounds for his gun.
“We’re deploying gas now,” an officer said at 11:14 p.m.
An officer said the man still was talking with the negotiator after gas was deployed. “His demeanor is calm. He sounds intoxicated.”
Cpl. Duane Boynton, the negotiator, asked for 5 minutes, saying he might still persuade the man to come out.
“He’s coughing and hacking,” officers said at 11:19 p.m.
Officers said the man was talking about coming out to get some air. An officer said for him to put the gun down and come out.
Boynton was asking for a few more minutes to try negotiating with the man.
“Anthony just told Boynton that if cops go in they’re going to get shot,” an officer radioed at 11:25 p.m.
An officer said he could add more gas to the shed, very near the assailant, and was given clearance to do so.
At 11:30 p.m., officers said they were using a robot to place a gas device inside the door, and said the assailant would have to go and pick it up, “or live with it.”
Meanwhile, Boynton was still talking with the man. Officers said the man’s voice was becoming muffled as if he was using a blanket to cover his face.
“Anthony just said ‘he’s going to eat a bullet,'” to commit suicide, officers radioed at 11:31 p.m., and said he appeared calm when he said it.
It appeared the man put the phone down and walked away from it, an officer said.
Officers were told to deploy more gas at 11:34 p.m. and there were popping noises from the gas canisters.
Ten minutes later, the man still wasn’t speaking on the phone with Boynton, and officers were using the gas, and their loudspeakers to call the man’s name and ask him to come out.
“The robot is inside looking around now,” an officer said.
There appeared to be lots of debris inside and a ladder inside leading to the attic, police said. Officers were seeing the man on robot cameras.
“He’s on the main floor. He’s slumped. It looks as if he might have shot himself,” an officer radioed at 11:59 p.m. “He is naked …. He is not breathing. We can see blood on the top of his shoulder.”
Officers then discussed how to confirm he was dead safely, possibly with a robot, or by sending a dog inside followed by an entry team of officers.
An officer said someone would go in to try and find the gun, but was cautioned to have as little impact on the crime scene as possible, to preserve evidence.
