Officer’s attorney: Olympia shooting is ‘justified’
Jun 5, 2015, 2:05 PM | Updated: 3:50 pm
The attorney for Olympia officer Ryan Donald says the shooting of two stepbrothers is "absolutely justified." (AP file photo)
(AP file photo)
He couldn’t get into the specifics, but the attorney for Olympia officer Ryan Donald says the May shooting of two stepbrothers was “justified.”
“The incident, as I know it, occurred because the officer was attacked by both suspects — physically attacked,” G. Saxon Rodgers told KIRO Radio. “He acted in self-defense to avoid serious bodily injury or worse.
“From what I know about it, it appears to be absolutely justified.”
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The investigation report is still being pieced together, according to Rodgers.
“It will come out,” he said. “I hope it’s done as soon as possible so [Donald] has a fair shot with the people making accusations that are unfounded.”
Rodgers’ statement runs contradictory to the attorney for Bryson Chaplin and Andre Thompson.
“The evidence doesn’t support the attack with a skateboard,” attorney David Beninger told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.
Donald said he was being attacked at the time of the shooting. Beninger told Dori the injuries the brothers sustained were mostly to their backs, which supports the idea the two were running away.
