Demonstrators gather in Hazel Dell, northeast of Vancouver, to protest the fatal police shooting of Kevin Peterson Jr.
About 200 demonstrators gathered Sunday afternoon in Hazel Dell, northeast of Vancouver, to protest the death of Kevin Peterson, a 21-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by Clark County sheriff’s deputies on Oct. 29 in the parking lot of a U.S. Bank on NE Highway 99.
The protest and subsequent march were peaceful. Several participants in the march were carrying weapons, as were members of another group who gathered in a restaurant parking lot along the route of the march, flying Trump and “thin blue line” banners from the back of a truck.
Organizers made speeches calling for justice for Peterson, and his father, Kevin Peterson Sr., made brief remarks thanking the crowd for their support, including donations that have created a fund for his daughter.
“Thank you guys, from the bottom of my heart, from the bottom of our family’s heart,” he said. “We really appreciate everything you guys have done with the march today. I don’t know half y’all, but you’re all out here representing for my son, our family member, who we lost.”
The march took place along NE Highway 99 to the place where police fatally shot Carlos Hunter in March 2019 while serving a warrant on him during a traffic stop. Police investigators said Hunter, who was wanted on suspicion of selling ecstasy, reached for a gun before deputies shot him.
After the march, demonstrators returned to the U.S. Bank parking lot for a candlelight vigil.
On Friday, the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office released nearly 500 pages of police reports shedding new light on the fatal Oct. 29 police encounter with Peterson. The records were released in response to a public records request from The Oregonian/OregonLive and other media organizations.
The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office expects to release additional reports in the case this week. Tony Golik, the Clark County prosecutor, has asked the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office to review the case.
The encounter started as an undercover drug sting targeting Peterson, 21, of Camas. Members of a regional drug task force planned to arrest Peterson on an accusation of attempted delivery of controlled substances for allegedly dealing Xanax, the prescription anxiety medication, investigators said.
Three Clark County deputies fired a total of 34 rounds, striking Peterson four times, as he fled from his car in the parking lot of a Quality Inn and ran to a nearby parking lot of a closed U.S. Bank in the business district, investigators said.
Peterson was armed with a .40-caliber Glock 23 semiautomatic handgun. Investigators concluded that he did not fire his gun.
He died at the scene.