Man shot and killed by Thurston deputy identified

The man shot and killed Tuesday by a Thurston County Sheriff’s deputy has been identified as a 60-year-old man from Yakima.

The man, Sok Chin Son, died of gunshot wounds to the torso, Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock told The Olympian. How many gunshot wounds Warnock could not say.

Son was shot Tuesday after Thurston County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the report of a man outside a home in the 7800 block of Mountain Aire Drive Southeast in unincorporated Thurston County, near Lacey, about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The department was responding to a call about a court-order violation, said Lt. Ray Brady.

Thurston County court records show a temporary domestic violence protection order was issued Jan. 13 that prohibited Son from coming within 500 feet of a person’s home in that block of Mountain Aire Drive Southeast. The order also required Son to surrender firearms.

The Yakima County Sheriff’s Office served the temporary order on Jan. 15, according to court records, and Son surrendered two guns. A hearing had been scheduled for Friday, Jan. 24 in Thurston County.

According to a Sheriff’s Office news release, the first deputy who arrived at the scene alone, approached the home and confronted the man — now understood to be Son — who “refused to follow commands.”

The deputy used a Taser, according to the release, then the man “presented a knife at the deputy,” who then shot the man.

Son died at the scene.

The deputy, described as a “6-year veteran of law enforcement,” wasn’t injured and was placed on administrative reassignment while the incident is investigated.

Mason County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation for the Region 3 Critical Incident Investigation Team. Thurston County won’t be part of the investigation.

This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 11:44 AM.