Lacey officer killed suspect during SWAT response after reported ‘disturbance’
A Lacey police officer who serves on the Thurston County SWAT Team has been placed on paid administrative leave after fatally shooting a man at a Lacey apartment complex Wednesday.
The shooting occurred after 5:06 p.m. in the 4600 block of 45th Avenue Southeast in Lacey. The Washington State Office of Independent Investigations is investigating.
Hector Castro, OII spokesperson, shared new details about the investigation with The Olympian Thursday afternoon. At least one officer on the Thurston County SWAT Team fired at the man with a firearm multiple times and struck him, Castro said. The SWAT Team is comprised of officers from multiple jurisdictions. He clarified the SWAT Team member who fired his gun is a Lacey officer.
“As far as I know right now, we’ve only identified one involved officer,” Castro said.
When reached for comment, Lacey police spokesperson Sgt. Derek Thompson said the officer in question has been placed on paid administrative leave in accordance with standard practice for these types of incidents.
Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock described the deceased as man in his 30s on Thursday. Warnock said he could not yet release the man’s name because he had yet to contact the man’s family. The man’s autopsy will occur Friday, he added.
Lacey police initially responded to the apartment complex after someone reported a “disturbance,” Castro said. He declined to elaborate on the nature of the disturbance, saying that will be a focus of the investigation.
In a Wednesday Facebook post, the Lacey Police Department indicated the man barricaded himself with a gun.
Once on scene, officers reported shots fired from one of the units and called in the Thurston County SWAT Team, Castro said.
The team attempted to contact the man, Castro said, but at some point, the man allegedly stepped outside and raised his firearm in the direction of law enforcement. That’s when the Lacey officer on the SWAT Team fired at the man.
In another Facebook post, Sheriff Derek Sanders said the shooting occurred as law enforcement were evacuating citizens within the complex.
In addition to local officers, the SWAT Team also includes a tactical paramedic from the Tumwater Fire Department and an ER doctor from Providence St. Peter Hospital, according to the county website.
Medical personnel on the SWAT Team attempted to render aid, but Castro said the man died at the scene. No law enforcement or bystanders were injured in the incident, he added.
The Lacey Police Department notified OII at about 5:26 p.m. and the first OII investigators arrived just after 6 p.m.
Castro said about 25 OII investigators arrived at the apartment complex after the shooting along with the Washington State Patrol Crime Scene response team and Thurston County Coroner’s Office.
“We had investigators at that location all night,” Castro said Thursday afternoon. “I think they cleared out just a couple of hours ago as they continued to talk to potential witnesses, canvas the neighborhood and gather evidence from the scene.”
OII has also assigned a family liaison to be a point of contact for the family of the man who died, Castro said.
Investigators will release information in the coming days as it becomes available, including the identity of the Lacey Officer who shot the man, Castro said.
Once the investigation is complete, OII will publish a report on its website detailing what occurred and how they investigated the shooting.
That report, along with a larger investigation file, will then be sent to the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Prosecuting Attorney Jon Tunehim will then have to decide whether to file charges against the officer or officers who shot the man.
“We do not make a charging recommendation,” Castro said. “So, we won’t write something that says: ‘You should charge this officer with X, Y or Z’, or ‘You should exonerate this officer.’ That’s not something we do.”
OII set up a tip line for this investigation. Anyone with information to share can call OII at 564-263-0280.
The Washington State Legislature created the OII in 2021 to independently investigate cases in which police use deadly force, according to the agency’s website. This is the first case they’ve investigated in Thurston County.
The agency started responding to deadly force cases on Dec. 1, 2024, and has completed three investigations so far. Castro said OII is only responding to incidents that result in a fatality for now.
Deadly force cases that do not result in a fatality will still be investigated by the Capital Metro Independent Investigations Team, which consists of detectives from Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater and Yelm police departments.
OII currently has an office in Thurston County, which is within what they call Region 1. They plan to have offices in five other regions across the state eventually.
This story was originally published January 22, 2026 at 5:18 PM.
