Death at Thurston County Jail being investigated by regional incident team

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said a death at the county jail is being investigated by the Region 3 Critical Incident Investigation Team.

According to a Sept. 8 news release from the Sheriff’s Office, the incident happened at 12:20 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7. Deputies and fire personnel were called to the Thurston County Jail for reports of an unresponsive inmate.

Corrections deputies and on-site medical personnel immediately provided life-saving measures until medics arrived. Despite those efforts, the inmate was pronounced dead at the scene by fire personnel.

The Sheriff’s Office requested the Region 3 Critical Incident Investigation Team conduct an independent review of the incident, according to the release. The Mason County Sheriff’s Office will lead the investigation.

Coroner Gary Warnock said the inmate was a 65-year-old man. He could not confirm his name.

Ty Vinson

The Olympian

360-357-0201

Ty Vinson covers the City of Olympia and keeps tabs on Tumwater and other communities in Thurston County. He joined The Olympian in 2021. Before that, he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at Indiana University. In college, he worked as an intern at the Northwest Indiana Times, the Oregonian and the Arizona Republic as a Pulliam Fellow. Support my work with a digital subscription