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911 calls shed light on death of suspected prowler

Shooter's wife, neighbors described confrontation, killing to operator

By Erin Middlewood
Published: February 7, 2013, 4:00pm

Calls to 911 from Sean H. Doucette’s wife and neighbors shed light on the Jan. 29 shooting death of Iosif Dumitrash.

Rachelle Doucette called 911 early Jan. 29 to report that her husband, a security guard just getting home from work, saw someone hiding in the shadows near a car. Five minutes later, she called back to say her husband had shot that person.

Doucette, 27, arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder, was released last week from the Clark County Jail on $250,000 bail.

Authorities on Thursday released audio of Rachelle Doucette’s two 911 calls and three others made Jan. 29 from the Burton area in Northeast Vancouver.

“It looks like there’s a teenager. My husband’s talking to him,” Rachelle Doucette said in the first call at 3:51 am.

“I will give this to an officer as soon as I can,” the dispatcher replied. “Call if anything changes.”

At 3:56, Rachelle Doucette called again.

“I just called 911 about a guy trying to break into a car, and he just attacked my husband, and my husband had to shoot him,” she said in a panicked voice. “My husband was talking to him in the street and the guy, he just charged at my husband. … My husband said, ‘Get down on the ground. Stop.’ And the guy just charged at him.”

The dispatcher asked about the injured man.

“Right now he’s lying on the ground. I don’t know where he’s shot. I just saw my husband fire,” Rachelle Doucette said. “My husband says he hit him, but he doesn’t know where. It looks like his stomach from over here. … He’s moaning. … My husband says he doesn’t look good, but he’s still breathing.”

The dispatcher instructed the Doucettes to administer CPR, which Sean Doucette was about to begin when police arrived.

Three neighbors also called 911.

“Somebody down the street just shot somebody,” one neighbor told an emergency dispatcher. “I can see somebody in the street with a black T-shirt on. I heard him fire five shots and yell, ‘Someone call 911.’ … There was a car alarm that went off twice.”

Another neighbor reported, “It sounds like there was a shooting behind my home. I heard, like, four shots.”

A third neighbor said he heard the alarm on his guest’s car going off. “We have a real bad situation going here,” he said. “There were shots just fired. Somebody’s been shot, too. Right out front. It looks like someone trying to break into a car.”

Doucette’s arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 12. He maintains that he shot in self-defense. Dumitrash’s family said the 19-year-old Portland resident had never been in trouble.

Erin Middlewood: 360-735-4516; http://www.twitter.com/col_trends; erin.middlewood@columbian.com.

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