Officials identify armed man shot dead by Tacoma officer
TACOMA, Wash. - An armed man who was shot dead by a Tacoma police officer Friday has been identified by the Pierce County Medical Examiner as Prince Jamel Gavin, 29, of Tacoma.
Gavin was shot outside a home in the 800 block of South M Street, where he resided, following a domestic violence incident at another location.
The shooting followed a confrontation between the man and one of the responding officers. The officer felt threatened by Gavin and opened fire, Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell said, firing two rounds and hitting Gavin at least once.
Gavin was pronounced dead at the scene. A .44 caliber gun was found beside his body after the shooting.
He was on active military duty, according to police.
The officer, a five-year veteran of the force, has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Friday's incident was the second shooting in which he had been involved.
Gavin was shot outside a home in the 800 block of South M Street, where he resided, following a domestic violence incident at another location.
The shooting followed a confrontation between the man and one of the responding officers. The officer felt threatened by Gavin and opened fire, Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell said, firing two rounds and hitting Gavin at least once.
Gavin was pronounced dead at the scene. A .44 caliber gun was found beside his body after the shooting.
He was on active military duty, according to police.
The officer, a five-year veteran of the force, has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Friday's incident was the second shooting in which he had been involved.
For comparison purposes, here are some of the safety precautions Tacoma police took, and their extensive efforts to preserve the life before shooting gun-waving suburban Gig Harbor resident Kenneth Wickham 2 years ago. This sad event took place down in front of Ruston Way businesses. Why not this level of effort for U.S. Army Combat Medic Sgt. Prince Jamal Gavin on the Hilltop? Why not even a sliver of it? Wasn't it negligence to confront Sgt. Gavin so unprepared that the officer "felt" he had to kill Sgt. Gavin? They need to come up with something besides feelings. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - OFFICERS' USE OF DEADLY FORCE FOUND LAWFUL - Office of the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist - March  14, 2011 - ... Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist concluded the death was justifiable homicide per state law, RCW 9A. 16.030 and RCW 9A.16.040. The Tacoma Police officers involved had reasonable cause to believe that Wickham posed an immediate threat of death or serious physical harm to several of the Tacoma Police officers and bystanders WHEN WICKHAM INTENTIONALLY POINTED A HANDGUN DIRECTLY AT THE OFFICERS who were ATTEMPTING TO PERSUADE Wickham to put the gun down... The Tacoma Police officers responded to the scene with their EMERGENCY LIGHTS AND SIRENS activated. As they arrived in the area, they PARKED THEIR VEHICLES IN THE OUTER PERIMETER of the Ram Restaurant parking lot... The OFFICERS APPROACHED HIM WHILE USING OTHER VEHICLES IN THE PARKING LOT AS COVER AND PROTECTION... Several of the OFFICERS VERBALLY IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES as police officers and LOUDLY COMMANDED WICKHAM to drop the gun. Wickham refused to obey the officers' commands and yelled back at them. Wickham told the officers to shoot him and made similar statements as he paced back and forth ... while CONTINUING TO HOLD THE GUN in his right hand. SEVERAL OFFICERS ATTEMPTED TO MOVE CLOSER to Wickham while MAINTAINING COVER and protection using other vehicles in the parking lot southwest of his position. Bystanders reported that the OFFICERS CONTINUED TO TELL WICKHAM TO DROP THE GUN... Wickham abruptly changed his physical posture AND POINTED THE HANDGUN IN A THREATENING MANNER towards the position where some of the officers were situated. Sgt. Peter Habib, Officer Scott Harris, and Officer Matt Verkoelen, in an almost simultaneous manner, recognized the threatening actions by Wickham and FIRED THEIR WEAPONS AT HIM FOR FEAR OF THEIR OWN AND OTHERS' SAFETY. Wickham was struck several times by the officers' shots...
I just want everyone to know one thing... SGT Prince Gavin DID NOT POINT HIS GUN AT THAT OFFICER. Not being there at the exact moment of the shooting, this statement is being made from a first hand account of 3 eye witnesses who state Prince only raised his gun in the air as if to tell the officer he was carrying, exactly what we are supposed to do as weapons permit carriers. He carried his weapon every single day. He had a concealed weapons permit and he was TRAINED. He would NEVER have posed a threat to that officer. Â DO NOT LET THIS OFFICER GET AWAY WITH THIS. He was on the force for 5 years and this was his second shooting. Everyone wants to know what the officer said to Prince, well here it is...NO ONE heard the officer tell Prince to put his gun down or give him any other verbal instruction before he started firing on Prince. He said something like "hey buddy let me talk to you" as Prince walked (not ran) in to the yard, and when Prince didn't respond and kept WALKING to the yard, the officer said "Freeze". Prince raised his gun to let the officer know and the officer started shooting and Prince ran to the front door and collapsed on the porch. Help me get JUSTICE for this FALLEN ANGEL.
 @justiceforSGTGavin Email me? cloudwriter@gmail.com.
"44 caliber gun was found beside his body after the shooting". not in his hand? "The officer felt threatened by Gavin and opened fire," officer never said he pulled a gun? or how he felt threaten?? The dept is already claiming this officer act apparently even after they stated they don't have all the " Facts" yet ?? seems a little presumptuous doesn't it?? This maybe not as cut and dry as it looks . But with out any witness 99.999% chance this police officer will be back to work , right /wrong. I believe police have a tremendous of contempt for the very people they are sworn to protect and young officer often will error on the side of excessive force rather than first trying to deescalating and or defuse a situation . I could be wrong.
 @realdeal Yeah, you might be wrong.Â
 @realdeal Do you think it is possible that the guy, oh I don't know, dropped the gun after being shot?  I think you are wrong about the police, while there may be a few with the attitude you describe, the majority of them are not like that.
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@bagsofdirt  Clearly this is only part of the story!! Why dont you show a little respect!! Im not saying that the officer did anything wrong in protecting himself, however this is his 2nd shooting he was involved in.. So maybe before you go being so disrespectful you should wait for the whole story!!
@proudarmywife! What story?....this guy was going to go kill the guy that had been porking his "woman." The officer just happened upon him before he entered the home. The dirtbag had a .44 in his hand and probably didn't put it down. End of story....Let me put it in perspective for you: Ex Orting Police chief Ron Emmons told me in 1983 that in his 19 year career w/ the State Patrol, he never unholstered his weapon. When I tell that story to friends of mine who work for the TPD they laugh nervously and say they unholster their weapons, on average, 3 times a night. These are the times we live in. Â
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"The officer felt threatened by Gavin and opened fire, Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell said, firing two rounds and hitting Gavin at least once." Way to state the obvious. If the officer HADN'T hit him at least once, he wouldn't be DEAD now, would he?
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 @n9078jk4 People are not property.  I understand your point, but that is offensive.  Our troops have given so much.  We need to step up and take care of them.
 @Phinn  @n9078jk4 As a former military person (and n907.. probably is too), we actually are (were) govt property. Example: if we got a sunburn that made it impossible to come to work, we could be charged with that. It may be offensive, but the govt doesn't care anymore for a truck than it does for a person when it comes to accounting. Sorry if that reality is upsetting, but that's the way it is. That's why only 1% of us ever serve, and even far fewer retire. That's also the reason we have a lifelong pension after 20 years. How many do you think would put up with being called property? Well worth it in the end, don't get me wrong. I enjoy my pension and benefits, but there's a price to pay for that, and most people don't realize that it's being pawns for politicians their whole career before it pays off.
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