The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) on Sunday released 20 minutes of bodycam footage from last week’s fatal officer-involved shooting in the Olympia area.
Three TCSO deputies shot and killed Todd Bass, 44, of Lacey, following a police pursuit in the Olympia area on Tuesday, April 28.
The incident began at approximately 2:37 p.m., when a TCSO deputy attempted to stop a vehicle for traveling about 90 mph in a 35 mph zone on Yelm Highway Southeast.
During the incident, both the deputy and the suspect crashed, according to TCSO.
“The suspect fled on foot, and deputies heard shots being fired in a back yard,” TCSO stated in a news release. “Deputies pursued the suspect on foot when shots were fired and the suspect was struck by gunfire.”
Medical aid was rendered to the suspect, but the suspect did not survive, according to TCSO. No deputies were injured.
The Washington State Office of Independent Investigations (OII) is investigating the incident.
When TCSO first confirmed details of the incident on Tuesday, the department stated that it would release bodycam footage of the incident “as soon as reasonably permitted by law,” in line with the policies of TCSO’s Body Worn Camera (BWC) Program.
Sanders posted the compilation video of dash and body worn cameras from deputies involved at 3:15 p.m. on Sunday, May 3.
The video was posted with a viewer discretion warning for graphic content and language that some viewers may find offensive.
“TCSO coordinated the public release of this footage with the O.I.I. Family Liaison. This footage was shared with the family of the deceased person and the involved deputies prior to this release,” Sanders wrote.
He confirmed that the OII investigation is ongoing.
The video starts with the dash cam of a patrol car at 2:36 p.m. on April 28. The footage shows an Impala zooming past the TCSO patrol car travelling the other direction. The deputy turns around, speeds to catch up and initiates a traffic stop. The Impala continues driving, going onto the center line and forcing other cars on the road to swerve out of the way to avoid a collision.
The deputy pursues. At 2:40 p.m., the deputy crashes into a ditch bush after misnavigating a curve.
The video cuts, with text on the screen describing the next events.
The suspect continued fleeing and left the area with TCSO no longer in pursuit.
About five minutes after the first pursuing deputy crashed, other TCSO deputies located the suspect vehicle abandoned after a driver crashed into a fence.
“When deputies arrived on scene, a shot was heard from the back yard of a residence. Deputies entered the backyard,” the text reads.
The video then plays a series of clips from the bodycam footage of the three involved deputies, identified as 33-year-old Civil Service Deputy Jordan Goss, 30-year-old Patrol Deputy Marlon Wakefield and 27-year-old Patrol Deputy Jacob Domeno.
The footage shows a deputy exit his patrol vehicle at 2:45 p.m. and ask a bystander “Where did he go?”
“That way,” the bystander responds, pointing to a residence.
The deputy talks to bystanders and to his radio, inquiring about someone screaming behind the house and giving instructions about setting up a perimeter.
At 2:46 p.m., just as a bystanders tells the deputy that the suspect hit her car, a loud bang is heard.
“We just had shots fired, shots fired,” the deputy says over the radio.
Dispatch confirms the message.
Asking other personnel to stay off the air, the deputy says, “Shots came from the backyard of the house. Unknown if it was the resident or the suspects.”
The deputy then draws his sidearm and takes a position near the crashed Impala facing toward the backyard.
Another TCSO patrol car pulls up. The deputy, with his firearm out, starts walking toward the back of the house.
“I’ve got a resident with a handgun in the backyard yelling for help. Give me another unit,” the deputy states.
Indistinct voices from the backyard can be heard over the video’s audio.
The deputy opens a gate with his firearm drawn and proceeds into the backyard.
Two other deputies with rifles enter with him.
“Go up, rifles up,” the deputy instructs. “That way. I saw one male with a hand gun.”
There is indistinct yelling as the deputies round the corner.
“Hands up, hands up. Sheriff’s Office, show me your f—-ing — show me your f—-ing hands,” the deputies yell out.
The deputies communicate back and forth as they scan the backyard, with one deputy confirming that the suspect is in front of him in a gray shirt, has a gun, and is hiding behind a shed.
A deputy asks the resident if the suspect has guns. The suspect responds affirmatively as another loud bang is heard over the bodycam’s audio.
The deputies then take cover behind a fence around the corner to the shed.
“Shots fired behind the shed,” one deputy confirms over the radio.
“He’s shooting at us,” another deputy says over the radio.
One of the deputies shoots toward the shed and confirms over the radio that one shot was fired by law enforcement.
A fourth deputy with a rifle is seen walking forward, behind two at the corner of the fence, as radio chatter confirms that the suspect is behind the blue shed on the property and is the one firing the shots.
“We’ve got to get this civilian out of here. He’s a civilian,” the initial deputy states, pointing to the other side of the fence.
“How do we get him out of here, guys?” A deputy asks.
The deputies give the resident instructions to start walking toward them as another shot rings out.
“Sir, you need to f—-ing get out of here,” a deputy tells the resident as more shots are heard. Deputies repeatedly tell the resident to “run” and “get out of here,” but the civilian does not appear to move, apparently trying to talk to the deputies.
At 2:49 p.m. a deputy says, “I see him, I see him.”
“Shoot him, shoot him,” another replies.
The two deputies at the corner of the fence, and the last deputy to arrive with a rifle, then fire multiple shots at the suspect.
There’s some chatter as they confirm the suspect is down.
They deliberately slow themselves down and check in before moving as a unit up to the shed.
“Stay down,” one deputy yells to the suspect.
“Hold on, hey, calm down,” one deputy is heard saying to another as they approach the shed.
“We’ve got eyes on the suspect. Calm down,” he repeats.
“He’s still moving,” one deputy states.
“He’s fine,” another responds.
The deputies call for a K9 officer and a shield, advising that they will hold their position on the other side of the shed until more resources arrive.
Meanwhile, a deputy is heard telling the others to check their magazines if they fired.
A K9 unit arrives at 2:51. An Olympia Police Department officer with a shield arrives seconds after.
“He’s armed with a handgun. He likely still has it,” the deputies advise the new personnel on scene.
They continue to hold and call for more resources. While they wait, they check themselves and each other for injuries and confirm they are unharmed. One deputy checks on the resident and retrieves his glasses from where they fell off his face during his initial confrontation with the suspect. The resident is instructed to go to the front of the residence and check in with medics.
More resources continue to arrive until 2:56 p.m., when they organize to move around the shed.
The K9 retrieves two handguns from the suspect before the deputies and officers approach.
The video then cuts off.
“Deputies used a K9 to pull the suspect away from two handguns before rendering aid. CPR was performed until medics arrived, at which point the suspect was pronounced deceased,” text in the video reads.
Blurred bodycam footage shows the deputies start performing CPR at 2:58 p.m., calling for medics and beginning the initial steps of the use of force investigation.
The last video clip ends a few seconds before 3 p.m.
“The Office of Independent Investigations is investigating the deadly use of force. The Region 3 Critical Incident Investigation Team is investigating the precipitating crimes which led up to the use of force,” text at the end of the video reads.
OII was notified of the incident at 3:11 p.m., according to a news release from the agency.
Once the Oll investigation is complete, the case will be forwarded to the Thurston County Prosecutor's Office for review.
Per standard protocol, the Thurston County Sheriff's deputies involved in the incident have been placed on administrative leave, according to TCSO.
