UPDATE: Authorities identify teen suspect killed by police
By Patty Hastings, Columbian
Social Services, Demographics, Faith
Published: January 25, 2013, 4:00pm
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Police converge in Vancouver's Arnada neighborhood after an officer-involved shooting late Friday.
UPDATE: The Vancouver Police Department late Saturday identified the subject killed by a police officer late Friday as Douglas E. Combs, 16, who was a suspect in a home invasion shooting and two armed robberies on Friday.
Police said a companion of Combs, also 16, was arrested on the scene and booked into the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of unlawful possession of a firearm.
The original story below will be updated.
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A subject sought in connection with a home invasion shooting and a series of armed robberies was killed by police late Friday night in Vancouver’s Arnada neighborhood.
The shooting occurred at about 11:30 p.m. as the subject reportedly reached for a gun after running away from officers near the intersection of C Street and East 20th Street, according to police radio monitored at The Columbian.
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The person, whose name and age was not released, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was male.
The officer who fired the shots was from the Vancouver Police Department, according to police spokeswoman Kim Kapp. The officer, who will be placed on administrative leave per departmental policy, was not identified.
A second person, also male, was detained at the scene, Kapp said. That person’s name was not released.
Police and deputies were in the neighborhood investigating a 1 a.m. Friday home invasion and shooting at an apartment at 1101 N.E. Minnehaha St. in Hazel Dell. The victim and others in the apartment managed to leave, and the victim was transported to an area hospital, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
It is believed that the shooter knew the victim, Clark County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Fred Neiman said earlier Friday.
The description of the shooting suspect — a white male teen or young adult, 5-feet 8-inches tall with a thin build and dark clothing — matched that of an armed robber at a convenience store several blocks away from the Minnehaha Street shooting, as well as an armed robber who struck a convenience store at Fourth Plain and Andresen Road about 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Police canvassed Arnada later Friday evening after receiving a tip that the subject sought in connection with the shooting and a series of armed robberies was planning to attend a concert and dance at Pop Culture on Main Street, according to radio traffic. He was believed to be armed.
He was spotted inside the business, and SWAT officers staged nearby at Vancouver School of Arts and Academics as he and the second person spent time in the business, occasionally walking outside with others to smoke. A thin layer of fog blanketed the area.
The stakeout continued beyond normal closing hours until, at about 11:30 p.m., the two left the business and began walking east on East 20th Street, according to radio traffic.
Officers converged, and he began running east on East 20th Street.
One of the two subjects was shot in the parking lot of a business at East 20th and C streets. An officer was heard radioing that the subject had been reaching for a gun. He asked for an ambulance to be dispatched to the scene.
The second subject was detained.
A patron who stepped out for a smoke while he was at Paul’s Restaurant on 18th and Broadway reported hearing four gunshots, as did a neighbor.
After the shooting, police cordoned off several blocks in Uptown Village and the Arnada neighborhood.
The officer involved shooting investigation is being conducted by the Camas Police Department, Kapp said.
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