The Vancouver police officer who fatally shot a man Saturday near the Vancouver waterfront has been involved in at least two prior fatal shootings.
On Friday, investigators identified the officer as Brandon Riedel, who has been with the police department since 2018.
Riedel shot and killed 43-year-old Vadim V. Sashchenko while responding to a call about an aggressive dog, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating as part of the Southwest Washington Independent Investigation Team.
Columbian archives show Riedel was also involved in the 2020 shooting of Andrew A. Williams, 41, and 2023 shooting of Joshua James Wilson, 43. Riedel was one of two officers who shot Williams while responding to a domestic violence stabbing at the Parc Central Apartments in Vancouver’s Rose Village neighborhood. He was also part of a group of officers who shot Wilson when the man pointed a gun at them as they chased him through a central Vancouver shopping center parking lot. That incident was captured on officers’ body cameras.
Riedel is assigned to patrol and is a member of the Southwest Washington Regional SWAT team.
Investigators also identified Officer Stuart Drynan as a witness to the Saturday shooting. Drynan has been with the department since 2023 and is also assigned to patrol, the sheriff’s office said.
Both officers are on critical incident leave, as per standard protocol.
Vancouver police were called about 1:45 p.m. to the 100 block of Southeast Columbia Way, just east of the Interstate 5 Bridge. A caller said a man was letting his German shepherd dog run loose, and the dog had already bitten one person. The caller also said the man appeared to have a firearm, according to police.
Officers located Sashchenko and his dog near Columbia Way and Columbia Street, according to a prior Vancouver Police Department news release. Riedel and Drynan approached Sashchenko who then appeared to point a firearm at them. Riedel shot him.
Sashchenko was pronounced dead at the scene, the news release said.
The sheriff’s office asks anyone who witnessed the shooting and has not been contacted by detectives to call them at 564-397-2847.
