Police share video of Sept. 4 shooting, clash in downtown Olympia
Olympia Police are calling on the public to help them identify people in a video of a shooting that occurred when two groups clashed on Sept. 4 in downtown Olympia.
The two groups, the right-wing Proud Boys and anti-fascists or Antifa, engaged each other in different locations around downtown Olympia, eventually reaching the Intercity Transit Center around 3 p.m., Police Chief Aaron Jelcick has said.
Olympia police shared footage of the clash on social media on Friday. The video shows a group of people dressed in black running through the transit center. At one point, one of these people appears to fire a handgun five times towards a group in pursuit which included a man holding a clear shield and what may be a baton.
In a Thursday news release, Jelcick said the encounter at the transit center resulted in one person affiliated with the Proud Boys being shot by someone from the Antifa group. In a Sunday news release, the city specifically identified the man’s ankle as the injured area.
Portland-area media identified the man as Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, a regular Proud Boys organizer from the Portland area. He was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia following the shooting, The Olympian previously reported.
The shooter left the scene before police could identify him, Jelcick wrote in the Thursday release. Once identified, detectives intend to arrest this person and charge them for the alleged crime, he wrote.
Jelcick notes the department has been investigating multiple crimes, but only makes specific mention of the shooting.
Lt. Paul Lower told The Olympian detectives are aware of another incident involving a woman who reported being chased and assaulted by the Proud Boys.
The department has received reports of other assaults from that day but details on these have not been as clear, Lower said.
The Proud Boys have been sharing plans on social media, indicating they will return to downtown Olympia on Sept. 18 as a response to the shooting. Jelcick wrote that his department is undertaking “advanced planning” in preparation for their return.
“We have a simple message to anyone considering coming to Olympia to respond to the shooting, to anyone making preparations to fight or to anyone who is willing to take part in violence on our streets: Do not come to our city. If you are already in our city, stay home,” Jelcick wrote.
Jelcick told The Olympian he hopes these two groups understand the warning he issued in the release.
“We are going to take an aggressive approach to law violations, particularly given the fact that these two groups have a propensity to engage one another in violent behavior,” Jelcick said.
Regarding the violence on Sept. 4, Jelcick said more people from the two groups arrived in downtown Olympia than his department expected.
“We had planned for an event, but often times it’s very difficult to plan because these groups don’t communicate with law enforcement,” he said.
For the Sept. 18 event, Jelcick said his department will have extra staff monitoring the two groups.
“We’re going to plan for the worse and hope for the best as far as that goes,” Jelcick said. “We will have more staff on them than we had the previous day and we intend to prevent as much as possible for these two groups to come together.”
The city asks that anyone with information about the Sept. 4 shooting call South Sound Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or police dispatch at 360-704-2740.
This story was originally published September 10, 2021 at 10:39 AM.
