An apparent drug sale of 50 Xanax pills between Kevin E. Peterson Jr. and a confidential informant outside the Quality Inn in Hazel Dell ended with Clark County sheriff’s deputies fatally shooting the young Black man, according to court records filed Friday.
The records cite evidence that suggests Peterson not only had a firearm but that he fired two rounds at deputies. Still, investigators have not outright said if Peterson fired the weapon, despite Sheriff Chuck Atkins saying last week there was an exchange of gunfire.
The shooting occurred shortly before 6 p.m. Oct. 29 in the parking lot of a shuttered US Bank branch, 6829 N.E. Highway 99, adjacent to the motel.
On the day of the shooting, officers with the regional drug task force were investigating Peterson for conspiracy to deliver controlled substances. Peterson, 21, of Camas was reportedly in contact with a confidential informant who had tipped off the task force about the sale. They agreed to meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Quality Inn, 7001 N.E. Highway 99, according to a search warrant affidavit.
The new information is contained in documents, filed in Clark County District Court, in support of a search warrant requested Tuesday for a dark blue 2012 Mercedes-Benz registered to Peterson. The vehicle, which is being held at Battle Ground Public Works, was searched Wednesday morning, and investigators found just shy of 40 pills inside, according to a property receipt.
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