WSU police officer who fired at student over knife threat identified

The Washington State University Police Department officer who shot at a 20-year-old student last week has been identified.

Dillon Tiedeman Mueller has been a WSU police officer for 2½ years and was previously a Latah County Sheriff’s Office deputy for 3½ years, according to a WSU police news release. Tiedeman-Mueller remains on administrative leave.

Police responded March 27 to the fourth floor of Global Scholars Hall after the student, John Bazan, called 911 to say a student had a knife and then described himself, police said in a previous release.

Two officers confronted Bazan, who had his hands in his sweatshirt pockets and moved toward them, police said.

Officers told him to stop and take his hands out of his pockets, but he didn’t comply, police said. An officer deployed a Taser, but it was not effective.

Bazan “removed his hands from his sweatshirt in an aggressive manner” as he continued to move toward officers. Tiedeman-Mueller then shot at Bazan but missed, sending a bullet into the hallway wall, police said.

Officers then shocked Bazan with a Taser and took him into custody. He was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital before being booked into jail on suspicion of assault, resisting arrest, intimidation of a public servant and obstruction.

Bazan was not listed in the Whitman County Jail roster Wednesday.

The regional officer-involved shooting investigative team, the Palouse Area Law Enforcement Critical Incident Investigative Response Team, continues to investigate the shooting.