TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — An initial autopsy has failed to show a cause of death for a 29-year-old Pierce County sheriff’s deputy who died a day after surgery to repair a job-related injury.
The Pierce County medical examiner’s office said Friday that microscopic and toxicology tests could take as long as six weeks.
Deputy Shandon Wright had surgery Wednesday to repair a dislocated shoulder stemming from an August arrest. Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer says the arrested man yanked on Wright’s arm.
Wright developed breathing problems Thursday evening and died at his home.
County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said Friday he expects to be asked to review the death for possible criminal charges.
The News Tribune of Tacoma reports that Lindquist says the legal question is whether the obstruction charge the man pleaded guilty to “was the proximate cause of Wright’s death.”
