Newly released body camera footage shows Washington police chasing a carjacking suspect into a crowded bingo hall and shooting him dead after he pointed a gun at officers.
Clark County Sheriff’s Office deputies tracked two carjacking suspects, a man and a woman, to an American Legion parking lot around 11 a.m. on April 13.
The suspect, later identified as Benjamin Steven Woods, 41, refused to obey officers and ran into the crowded bingo hall while being chased by the police dog, he reported. KOIN.
Inside the hallway, video showed Officer Michael Gonzalez warning the suspect he was going to be shot, then Woods pulled out his gun and told the officer “they’re going to shoot you.”
Gonzalez and Deputy Jim Payne fired several bullets at Woods as he fell to his knees in the bathroom door in front of horrified customers.
Clark County Sheriff’s Office deputies shot carjacking suspect Benjamin Steven Woods, 41, inside a crowded bingo hall after he pointed a gun at them.
Officer Michael Gonzalez and Officer Jim Payne fired multiple bullets at Woods as he fell to his knees in the bathroom door.
At 10:30 a.m., officers responded to a report of a carjacking in Hazel Dell where the victim said a man and woman had stolen his truck. The witness also stated that the suspect was armed with a gun.
About 20 minutes later, officers were dispatched to an attempted carjacking near Goodwill in Salmon Creek, where the suspects’ descriptions matched the two from the Hazel Dell incident.
Officers located the stolen truck from Hazel Dell’s carjacking behind the American Legion at 14011 NE 20th Ave. and approached Woods.
Body camera footage showed Gonzalez warning Woods that the police dog would bite him if he didn’t comply as Woods continued to walk away from the officers.
Gonzales is then heard saying “it’s a gun” as Woods enters the American Legion.
Payne yelled at Woods to take his hands out of his pockets and when he did the officer said “gun in hand.”
“I sent the dog out, there are people there,” Payne said as he ran toward the building.
Inside the bingo hall, Gonzales is commanding his K9 officer in the room full of bingo players.
When Payne and Gonzales approach Woods at the bathroom door, Woods pointed his gun at them and the officers immediately shot him.
Woods’ gun slipped from his hand as he fell to his knees, writhing in pain, and the officers continued to tell him not to move. After Woods stopped moving, officers dragged his body into the hallway and rendered aid until EMS arrived.
Medical personnel pronounced Woods dead at the scene, and the suspect, identified as Lyndsey D. Jones, was later found and arrested for residential burglary.
The shooting is being investigated by the Southwest Washington Independent Investigative Response Team, led by the Vancouver Police Department.
Authorities identified Sergeant Fred Harrison and Deputy Enrique Cordero as the other two officers who witnessed the shooting.
Gonzalez warned the suspect that they were going to shoot him, then Woods pulled out his gun and told the officer, “They’re going to shoot you.”
Woods’ gun slipped from his hand as he fell to his knees writhing in pain, and officers continue to tell him not to move.
Body camera footage showed Gonzalez warned Woods that the police dog would bite him if he didn’t comply as Woods continued to walk away.
Jamie Gardner, 61, said The Oregonian He was on his fourth round of bingo at the American Legion booth when Woods ran in and estimated about 30 people were in attendance.
“Then the shots rang out, I put two and two together and fell to the ground,” Gardner said.
‘I could hear some older people saying, “I can’t get under the table!” It was horrible.’
Deborah Alderman, who was inside playing bingo, said KPTV The shooting occurred right behind her.
“We were sitting at bingo and all of a sudden this guy walked in the back door,” Alderman said.
“He went into the bathroom, I don’t know if it was a men’s or a women’s bathroom and the next thing you hear is screaming and then bam bam bam bam bam bam and we all fell to the floor.”