Kevin Peterson Jr. did not fire at police before he was killed, investigators now say

The 21-year-old Black man fatally shot by Clark County authorities late last month was armed with a handgun and pointed it at deputies but never fired at them, investigators said late Tuesday.

The latest revelations about the circumstances leading to the killing of Kevin E. Peterson Jr. of Camas contradict information included in a search warrant filed in Clark County District Court last week by a Battle Ground police detective.

The warrant affidavit refers to police radio traffic that “stated that Mr. Peterson had fired two rounds” and notes that a forensic analysis of the handgun found near Peterson indicated it was missing two rounds. A witness also told police she heard two gunshots that “sounded different” before a “volley of shots” that sounded the same, according to the court record.

But investigators issued a statement Tuesday saying detectives “do not have evidence that Peterson fired the handgun while in the U.S. Bank lot, based on involved deputy interviews. Additionally, no .40 caliber casings were recovered at the scene.”

They said they “conducted a round count” from Peterson’s gun and found one round was chambered and one was missing.

The statement does not address the discrepancy between the latest findings and the information filed with the court last week. An email and phone message to Longview police Detective Sgt. Marc Langlois, the investigation’s spokesman, were not immediately returned.

Investigators also said they had completed interviews with the three officers who fired on Peterson and have released their names.

They are: Detective Jeremy Brown, 46, a 14-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, Detective Robert Anderson, 42, a 13-year veteran of the agency, and Deputy Jonathan Feller, 46, with the Sheriff’s Office 2 1/2 years and another 14 years of police work in South Dakota.

Investigators released additional details leading to their fatal encounter with the 21-year-old Camas man.

Members of a regional drug task force had arranged an undercover sting to buy Xanax from Peterson, the investigators said in a statement. When he arrived at the meeting location in the Hazel Dell area, police activated their emergency lights and approached Peterson’s Mercedes.

Peterson fled on foot and was armed with a .40-caliber Glock pistol, which he dropped at one point but stopped to retrieve, the statement said. Detectives stopped chasing him and radioed that Peterson was armed.

Peterson made his way through the U.S. Bank lot, where he encountered sheriff’s deputies who told him to stop, the statement said.

One deputy saw Peterson with a phone in his hand. Peterson didn’t stop when ordered and pulled a handgun out of his sweatshirt pocket, investigators said.

Anderson fired first, according to the account provided by police. He told investigators he fired his pistol as Peterson moved toward an area where other law enforcement officers were located.

Feller told investigators that Peterson “pointed the handgun at him while running northbound.” Feller then fired at Peterson, according to the statement.

Video from the U.S. Bank “showed Peterson fall, then sit up and point a handgun” at Brown, prompting Brown and Anderson to fire at Peterson, investigators said.

“Peterson eventually set the handgun down and continued to make some movements,” according to the statement.

Five minutes after Peterson was shot, deputies approached him and “rendered first aid,” investigators said.

A federal gun trace on Peterson’s gun found that he had purchased it from a relative in August.

On the night of the shooting, a witness at the scene told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he saw police cars speed into the bank parking lot. He said police then exited their cars with guns drawn and quickly fired. The man wanted to be identified only by his first name, Dan, because he was concerned about backlash from the public. He said the man who was later identified as Peterson “looked really scared” as police arrived and appeared to have his hands in his pockets.

Olivia Selto, Peterson’s partner, said she was on the phone with Peterson in the moments before he was shot.

“They just keep changing their story,” she said Tuesday in a message to The Oregonian/OregonLive. “Even their story now doesn’t add up to what I heard on the phone.”

The Clark County sheriff said the day after the shooting that Peterson had “reportedly fired his weapon at the deputies. The deputies returned fire.” Later that day, an investigation spokesman said Peterson had “produced” a gun.

Peterson’s father, Kevin Peterson, declined to comment. He said he is being represented by the law firm of Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney who represents the family of George Floyd, the man killed this year by Minneapolis police. Crump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Peterson’s death led to several tense demonstrations in Vancouver decrying the police killing of another Black man.

The Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office said Peterson died from multiple gunshot wounds.

-- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie

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