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Pierce County deputies cleared in fatal shooting of man with chain saw

By Stacia Glenn, The News Tribune
Published: January 9, 2017, 8:26pm

Justin Baker’s parents had a protection order against him, so they called 911 in August when he showed up outside their Graham home, carrying a running chain saw.

Five Pierce County sheriff’s deputies responded and tried to talk Baker, 36, into dropping the chain saw. When he charged at them, they all opened fire.

Baker was shot 27 times. He died at the scene.

On Monday, Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said deputies David Sutherland, Brian Coburn, Robert Blumenschine, Roger Fuller and Chad Helligso acted lawfully when they shot Baker.

A separate investigation also found the deputies acted according to department procedure.

Baker had a substantial and potentially fatal amount of methamphetamine and amphetamines in his system at the time of the shooting Aug. 30 in the 9000 block of 262nd Street East, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Baker’s parents told dispatchers he was making threats to come into the home, kill himself with the chain saw and attack deputies if they showed up.

When the five deputies arrived, they found him wielding a running chain saw and asked him to put it down. Baker refused.

One deputy struck Baker with a Taser just before Baker charged at the deputies and all five fired simultaneously.

Lindquist called the death “an unfortunate example of suicide-by-cop.”

Baker suffered from mental health problems and was convicted of assaulting his parents previously, records show.

Officials said Baker stopped taking his medication and threatened to kill his father the week before he was killed.

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