Vancouver police shoot, kill armed 16-year-old suspect
VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) - Police officers investigating a series of armed robberies and a home invasion shooting in Vancouver fatally shot a 16-year-old armed suspect, authorities said Saturday.
The teen was the primary suspect in the crime spree that occurred Friday, police said in a press statement.
Officers located Douglas E. Combs and another teen Friday night and the encounter led to an officer opening fire, killing Combs, police said.
"During attempted contact with two armed individuals, the circumstances of that contact resulted in a Vancouver police officer shooting one of the individuals, who died at the scene," the statement said.
The other teen, who is also 16, was arrested on firearms charges.
Police said Combs was the prime suspect in a home invasion shooting and convenience store robbery early Friday morning and the armed robbery of a gas station store Friday night.
Vancouver police aren't releasing the name of the officer, who has been put on paid administrative leave, per protocol.
Another Darwin award candidate.
I guess he learned the hard way that crime doesn't pay. Hopefully, his brother will learn a lesson from this and chose a better path.
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Glad the officer is ok and can go home to his family.
My prayers... for the officer involved. That is going to be a tough one, even though justified.
Idiot.
I'm sure that after it's all been looked at, analyzed, measured, and investigated, we'll see some common factors in this young man's life that lead to this type of lifestyle choices, behavior and death.
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I imagine that if one looks honestly at the situation here, it will unfortunately "makes sense", when you look at it.
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Talk with his elementary school teachers, they'll be saddened of course(as they should), but I come from a family of teachers and I work in the CJ system. My Mom-in-Law, sister, brother and wife can predict with about 100% accuracy who I'll be dealing with in the future.
This is a sad story, but an all too familiar one.
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 @hardtowatchitfade My wife works in Juvenile Services, she says they are dealing with third generation people going thru the system.
Good one less waste of air for the tax payers to support for the rest of his worthless life.
I read on king 5 his brother was upset that the police should of used something other then lethal force on this CHILD. He  deserved what he got. We do not need these thieving, thugs with guns type of  Children in society!!!!!
 @DeeDee Yup.  No sympathy.  You pull a gun on a police officer, they will pull a gun on you.  And at 16, they should know that.
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@UdubMike Sigh and a big hug for you. Your life must be very empty and boring.
 @UdubMike A little racist are we? Disgusting trait you know, nothing to be proud of.
 @UdubMike Come on!!! Name me a city where ANY kind of crime is limited to one race! I have a relative working for Clark Co. Sheriff and I can assure you - name the crime - is not limited to any one race, sex, etc...
By all means, capture the punk by non-deadly means. Send him to detention for a couple of years, try to rehibilitate him. Man that always works. Just ask Tuba man.
Ban Hand Guns. LOL
@Telman@ You think your funny? Your not.
 @Tattooed_Angel He may, or may not, be funny.  However, at least he can spell.
@NWFreeman Yes, it should be "you're" instead of "your." I noticed that after it posted. However, I didn't think it worth deleting the comment and reposting, Mr. Spelling-Nazi.
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He may be able to spell, but he obviously doesn't understand the rules when it comes to capitalization.
Could the Police use a non-deadly means of arresting this young man, such as beanbag shotguns or tazers?
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It would seem this individual was suspected of a home invasion robbery and shooting. When cornered and told to surrender, he must have reacted by aiming a gun at police. Suicide by cop.
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Was this individual living out some kind of Playstation fantasy, or heroic Hollywood movie scene, where all the police are gunned down and the villain slips away into the night? It doesn't work like that in real life.
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This individual brought his death to himself. I try to fathom what type of mindset this man had in the months and weeks leading up to his fatal actions. I might try the phrase "Criminally insane."
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Like it says in the scripture, "If you live by the sword, so will you die by the sword."
 @Suspishissofu The adults at Sandy Hook Elem. School used "non-deadly means" (they didn't have deadly means) and look what it got them...
 @Suspishissofu Totally disagree with using non lethal force. The perpetrators were not using non lethal force and neither should our police force. I'm sure there is a family somewhere grieving, but the reality is, as young as he was, he made a choice and that choice cost his life, he did "die by the sword" so to speak. If anything, the police do not use deadly force nearly enough in my opinion.
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I'm so sick of reading about these punks that seem to think they can take what others work for with no consequences....... This criminal will not get a chance to hurt anyone else, his buddy though will probably not get it, and be back on the streets in record time doing the same things all over again. We can hope the little hoodlum will have a change of heart, but statistics paint a gloomy picture of rehabs for these kinds of criminals.
@Suspishissofu Why would you use non-deadly means of arresting someone who is holding a gun? After a home invasion SHOOTING and a robbery? Every police officer out there wants to go home to their loved ones after their shift, not figure out a non-deadly way to take an armed felon into custody. You choose to hold a gun around a police officer, that's what happens.
Bummer. Perhaps parents will start getting a clue about actually parenting their teens, instead of leaving them to run the streets. We're seeing the offspring of the thugs of the 90s, and it's not pretty. Â I don't care if the perp was 13 or 97, you terrorize people, and you threaten a police officer with a gun, and you're going down. Â Waiting for the family to have a press conference about how the "child" was in high school, loved sports, and was "turning his life around." Perhaps there will even be a "baby girl" in the mix, for added effect. Â Vancouver isn't exactly urban, so I don't think we'll see marches on City Hall protesting the cruel treatment of the criminal who was shot. Â Amazing though, how when someone like that gets shot, people march on City Hall and hold press conferences, but when THEY kill someone... nothing.. silence. Â Apparently it's okay to shoot and terrorize other people, the parents are silent on that, but someone who can be sued shoots them, all of a sudden it's a travesty. Â Man.. some really screwed up families out there. Â
 @DT Interesting. You are totally OK with a cop shooting and killing this punk, but you are against an average person having the same sort of hardware as the cops to defend themselves from this same sort of punk.
They knew what they were getting into. Awfully young to be gunned down by police but that's the path life led the kid. Maybe he thought he was invincible and would live forever, who knows.
 @Chico At that age, they almost ALL think they are invincible, infertile, immune, and immortal.
Can anybody give a reasonable excuse for keeping the names from the public?
 @Glassman while it's not technically against the law to publish the name of a minor as long as it's obtained in a legal and truthful manner, it's unethical until he's charged.
@Glassman Retribution in a crazed society.
Good riddance, A little less tax payer spent on housing this POS.
How dumb can one get reaching for a gun when a SWAT officer has you covered??? At least we won't have to house and feed this idiot any more. When an officer says "Stop or I Will Shoot" he should if the perp continues running or driving. Maybe a little harsher at one end will lessen the load at the other (over crowded prisons).
Administrative leave is expensive as you have to keep paying the officer. Since he already knows how to shoot accuratly he should just be on duty.Â
 @Maynard G Krebbs It has nothing to do with him shooting accurately. Confronted with the same situation in the next 72+ hours, he may shoot to soon or to late, not a good situation.
Sounds like nobody was hurt in this incident but for the idiot who went for his gun. Perfect! Glad they caught the other bum as well.
Reaching for a gun, after running away from police, is not a smart move.Â
Don't rob. Stay alive.
The community is a bit safer now.Â
Just think. If the two ARMED men had come to Seattle and participated in the gun buy back they would have received $200.Â
 @JT I guess it's a safe bet that these two did NOT participate in the gun buy back program....
 @Susabelle  @JT Guess they couldn't find a car to jack for the trip to Seattle!
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 @JT What we really need is a stupid criminal buy back. Can we out law them and leave the guns alone?
Except the libs would rather irrationally fear the guns and melt them down while giving felons multiple opportunities to turn their useless lives around. But don't forget to focus on the evil guns. @truthteller @JT
@HawkEye I'm a lib and have several guns. Not too bright are you?