Detectives wrap up investigation of Olympia police shooting, but offer no conclusions

Detectives have officially wrapped up their investigation of the May 21 Olympia police shooting, but a decision on criminal charges in the case is still weeks away.

Lt. Cliff Ziesemer of the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation concluded Wednesday, but detectives are still waiting on reports from the Washington State Patrol crime lab. It could be weeks before those reports are complete.

“We’ve finished our part of the investigation, but we’re waiting on lab results,” Ziesemer said. “Then we’ll send it as one big packet to the (Thurston County) Prosecutor’s Office.”

From there, Prosecutor Jon Tunheim and his staff will decide whether to file criminal charges against any of the three men involved: Officer Ryan Donald, Andre Thompson and Bryson Chaplin. Donald shot Thompson and Chaplin in the early hours of May 21 on Cooper Point Road. The two men were accused of stealing from the west Olympia Safeway.

The investigation was performed by a taskforce of local law enforcement agencies: the Sheriff’s Office, the Lacey Police Department and the Tumwater Police Department. The Olympia Police Department is typically part of the task force, but because the shooting involved an Olympia officer, the department isn’t taking part in the investigation.

During a Wednesday meeting with The Olympian’s Editorial Board, Olympia Police Chief Ronnie Roberts said he hasn’t been informed of any of the investigation’s findings, and that he doesn’t know any more about the shooting than what he told the media and the public on May 21.

This story was originally published June 11, 2015 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Detectives wrap up investigation of Olympia police shooting, but offer no conclusions."