The two, unarmed black men shot by a white Olympia police officer early Thursday morning are expected to survive.
The two men that were shot are half-brothers and have been identified as 24-year-old Andre Thompson and 21-year-old Bryson Chaplin. Police said Thompson is in serious but stable condition. Chaplin is in critical condition and is expected to survive.
It all started when a Safeway employee called police. There were two men involved, both described as black males with skateboards. About 10 minutes later, Olympia police officer Ryan Donald radioed in.
“I’m out with two on skateboards,” he said.
A minute later, Donald said, “I’ve got shots fired, I believe one of them hit. Both of them are running.”
Another officer asked whether the two men were armed. Donald replied “no,” but that one of them assaulted him with a skateboard. He gave chase, and fired more shots.
“I’ve got two down,” Donald said. “Two shot.”
“By law, an officer in this state cannot be prosecuted for use of deadly force if they acted in quote ‘good faith and without malice’ unquote,” said Thurston County Prosecutor Jon Tunheim.
Investigators don’t expect to interview Officer Donald until next week.
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A previous version of this story described the shooting victims as step-brothers rather than half-brothers.
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