PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The law enforcement community is mourning Vancouver Officer Donald Sahota’s death after a Clark County deputy shot and killed the off-duty officer at his home on Saturday after an armed robbery suspect led police on a chase to his property.
The medical examiner’s report released Tuesday night said officer Sahota died from gunshot wounds in the torso. This is significant because the robbery suspect, Julio Segura, is charged with attempted murder after detectives said he stabbed the officer.
KOIN 6 News spoke to the Behind the Badge Foundation, who pointed out the ripple effect these tragedies have on the whole community.
They also said a line of duty death of another officer is one of the most significant events people experience in law enforcement.
According to court documents, robbery suspect Julio Segura admitted to stabbing officer Sahota multiple times at his home.
A Clark County deputy sheriff fired his rifle while they were responding to the scene — hitting officer Sahota, according to the Lower Columbia Major Crimes Team.
Mike Cobb, of the Behind the Badge Foundation, said the impacts of these deaths are almost indescribable, and said they have an effect on the officers, the organization, the officers’ families, and the community as a whole.
“No one signs up for a job to be assaulted, hurt, or killed,” Cobb said.
He added that officers are becoming more cautious in the field.
“What we’re seeing is a significant increase in assaults on officers. It seems like people almost have a tacit permission to assault an officer, stab an officer, shoot an officer,” Cobb said.
Justin Farrell, a social worker who specializes in giving counseling to first responders, said talking about what happened can help people process what they’re feeling.
“Especially in responders, sometimes that the emotion side gets a little bit turned off because it’s, ‘hey, I’ve got to respond to the next call’, or ‘I’ve got my next shift that’s tomorrow,” Farrell explained.
Farrell agrees that crimes like these end up impacting more people than we realize.
“Realistically, this started with a clerk at a convenience store that had a gun pointed at him. I mean, that’s just that’s scary enough for that particular person death to deal with so when you start to think about the ripple effect of how many people something like that impacted that I think that’s definitely where therapy comes in,” Farrell said.
Court documents say Officer Sahota’s wife was injured while Segura was trying to get in their home.
The Lower Columbia Major Crimes Team said Officer Sahota’s wife was assaulted during the incident but can’t discuss any medical information.
Authorities have not identified the CCSO deputy who fired their weapon yet.