SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Illegal immigrant who shot Ryan Thompson was on way to kill a woman

Aug 2, 2019, 4:13 PM

sanctuary state, Ryan Thompson...

Kittitas County Deputy was killed by an illegal immigrant in March. (KIRO 7)

(KIRO 7)

We got word Friday that Ellensburg Police Department has completed its investigation into the murder of Kittitas County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Thompson.

Thompson was killed by an illegal immigrant, Juan Manuel Flores del Toro, in a shootout following an attempted traffic stop that turned into a high-speed chase. Del Toro also wounded Kittitas Police Officer Benito Chavez before being fatally shot by Kittitas County Deputy Jason Goeman.

Thanks to a press release from Ellensburg police, we now have a better idea of why Del Toro might have been driving so erratically that night. Earlier that day, Del Toro had threatened to shoot a woman and her child. Then he left in her vehicle.

Brother of Deputy Ryan Thompson says his death was a result of sanctuary policy

Witnesses said that Del Toro was on his way to shoot a different woman when he sped off in the first woman’s vehicle.

That may explain why he was driving so erratically that Thompson was alerted by citizens. And then it was that attempted traffic stop that ended in a shootout.

You may recall that about a month after this horrible death, Ryan’s brother Aaron Thompson told me something pretty chilling. His family believes that Governor Jay Inslee’s sanctuary state policy helped encourage Flores del Toro to stay in this state illegally, and therefore helped lead to their son’s death.

“Anyone who wants to come out and say that they are a sanctuary city [or county] for people who are here illegally, when something bad happens in their jurisdiction or under their watch, that blood is on their hands,” he said.

That goes not just for Inslee, but for Bob Ferguson, Jenny Durkan, Dow Constantine, and every other politician who endorses sanctuary policy. They endorse policies, and those policies can be directly connected to innocent people being killed, or — as in the case of the White Center mom — raped.

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Dori: Illegal immigrant who shot Ryan Thompson was on way to kill a woman