Trooper shoots, kills suicidal man on I-5 near Lacey

A Washington State Patrol trooper shot and killed a man on southbound Interstate 5 near Carpenter Road at milepost 110 just before 8 a.m. Saturday morning.

The man was 22 years old and was a National Guard reservist.

The incident started in King County near SR 167, Trooper Brooke Bova said.

The man, called 911 early Saturday morning. He was distraught and said he had a knife.

“And said that he was going to do suicide-by-cop,” Bova said.

After the call, troopers searched for the man for about 30 minutes. They finally located him several miles away on southbound I-5 near the main gate to Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The man was driving a black Dodge Charger and the trooper attempted to pull him over for 10 miles. The man finally relented and pulled over at milepost 110 in Lacey.

“When he exited his vehicle, he was holding a knife and made threatening gestures towards troopers,” Bova said. “A trooper feared for their safety; the subject refused to obey commands and unfortunately had to discharge his firearm.”

After the man was shot, trooper began performing CPR. Thurston County medics also tried to revive the man, but he died at the scene.

The investigation was turned over to the Thurston County Critical Incident Investigation Team, which is comprised of five law enforcement agencies, including State Patrol.

After the shooting, I-5 was shut down for hours.

The Thurston County coroner said he will reveal the man’s name on Sunday to allow the family time to process and grieve.