PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Investigators have released new details in the fatal shooting of Carlos Hunter. 

Hunter was shot by two detectives with the Vancouver Police Department during a March 7 traffic stop. The 43-year-old died at the scene. 

The Regional Major Crimes Team launched an investigation following the shooting. 

Background

A report released Friday by the Camas Police Department revealed what the investigators learned after talking to the officers who were involved, interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence. 

According to investigators, Vancouver police officers had obtained a warrant before March 7 to search Hunter, his home and his car because he was suspected of having drugs and planning to deal them. 

Officers from the Safe Streets Task Force were working with officers from the Neighborhood Response Team to serve the warrant in the safest way possible. VPD officers prepared an Operation Plan and shared with it with all of the authorities involved. It included details about the location and the tactical plan, as well as information about Hunter, his past violent felony convictions and his suspected drug distribution. 

The plan also said Hunter was known to carry a gun and was “stated to be a gang member.” Investigators said the gang reference that appeared in earlier media releases came from the personal knowledge of some officers on the scene and details relayed via the Operation Plan. 

The Operational Plan concluded that it would be best to engage Hunter outside of his home while he was on foot or driving. 

March 7th

Investigators said on March 7, officers were watching Hunter’s home as they got ready to serve the search warrant. They followed him after he got into his car and drove away. 

Officers turned on their emergency lights near the 2500 block of Northeast 78th Street and pulled Hunter over. Investigators said the officers, who were wearing police uniforms, made the stop in a fully-marked VPD vehicle. Hunter was the only person in the car he was driving.  

According to the Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency (CRESA), the traffic stop began at 1:34 p.m. The two officers who started the stop were quickly joined by two other officers. In total, three Vancouver police officers and one officer from the Department of Corrections were at the traffic stop. 

CRESA records show the officers radioed that shots had been fired about 5 minutes later. 

Within 5 minutes

Investigators learned after interviewing the officers that Hunter was communicating with officers when they first approached him. The officers identified themselves and Hunter acknowledged that he understood they were police officers. However, the officers said Hunter was not cooperating with what they told him to do. 

The officers said they told Hunter he was being detained so that they could search him and his car and that he would need to get out of the vehicle. Hunter reportedly became increasingly argumentative and refused to exit the car.  

During this time, the officers said Hunter kept putting his hands down near his waist. The officers said they couldn’t see his hands and repeatedly told Hunter to keep his hands up. 

The driver’s side door of Hunter’s car was open and officers tried to physically pull him out of the vehicle but he struggled with them. All three officers used their Tasers on Hunter during the struggle but later reported the Tasers were “ineffective.” 

According to investigators, the officers said they were still telling Hunter to keep his hands where they could be seen when he quickly reached down near his front pants pocket. The officers said they had seen a gun in that same pocket. One officer shouted to the others that Hunter had a gun and the officer that had been partway inside the car, struggling with Hunter, let Hunter go and jumped back. The officers said they saw Hunter stick his hand down and grab the handle of the gun as he tried to remove it from his pocket. 

It was then that Detective Dennis Devlin and Detective Colton Price, who were standing on opposite sides of Hunter’s car, fired their weapons, shooting Hunter in the torso several times. 

Hunter did not fire his weapon, according to the investigation. A Smith & Wesson 40 caliber handgun –the same gun seen by the officers in Hunter’s pocket — was taken as evidence. Authorities said it had been stolen from a home in Vancouver in 2017. 

The investigation is ongoing.