Police shoot man who reportedly broke into east Vancouver home, wielded a knife at the resident
May 26-A Vancouver police officer shot and wounded a man Tuesday morning after the man allegedly ignored police commands to drop a knife and advanced toward a woman outside her home, according to the Vancouver Police Department.
Police responded to reports of a residential burglary about 6:35 a.m. in the 10900 block of Northeast 48th Street. A woman called 911 to report that she awoke to someone smashing her windows. She told dispatchers she believed the intruder was a man she knew who had attempted to break into her house days earlier, according to a police news release.
She left her home and waited in her car for officers to arrive, police said.
Three officers responded and encountered a man wielding a knife and moving toward the woman in her yard, according to the news release. Police said the man refused to drop the weapon despite repeated orders.
One officer shot the man, according to the police department. No officers were injured. Emergency dispatch logs show the shooting happened at 6:49 a.m.
Officers provided medical aid until paramedics arrived to take the man to a local hospital for treatment, the news release states. The Washington State Office of Independent Investigations, which is investigating the shooting, said the man suffered life-threatening injuries.
A neighbor, Kathleen Arnold, said she saw her neighbor sitting in her car for some time before police arrived and kicked in the front door. Arnold then heard four shots, she said, and saw a man lying in the grass outside her neighbor's home.
Another neighbor, Ken Aronson, awoke about 6:50 a.m. "to a pop pop pop" and said he realized it was gunfire. He then heard sirens a few minutes later, he said, and saw law enforcement and other first responders swarming his neighbor's house.
The police department has not released the names of the people involved, including the officers.
The officer who shot the man and two witness officers have been placed on critical incident leave, per standard protocol.
The police department said it will not be involved in the inquiry into the shooting.
Investigators will eventually release footage from body-worn and in-car cameras as part of the police department's camera program, along with the names of the officers involved.
Once the independent investigation is complete, the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney's Office will review it to determine if the use of force was justified.
Anyone with information related to the shooting investigation should call the Office of Independent Investigations tip line at 564-233-8119.
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Editors note: This article has been updated with the correct type of leave the officers were placed on.
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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 6:05 PM.