The Clark County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) released body-worn camera footage and the names of the deputies involved in the Feb. 20 Brush Prairie shooting that resulted in the death of 53-year old Jonathan Gale.
Five deputies were on scene at the time of the incident following a welfare check call, and all were wearing body-worn cameras (BWC), according to a news release. Three deputies discharged their firearms while two deputies witnessed the incident, CCSO stated in a news release.
Deputies Forrest Gonzalez, Holly DeZubiria and Isaac Henrikson and Sgt. Tom Yoder and Sgt. Jeff Ruppel were named in the report. They are all on paid leave while the investigation is completed.
An independent investigation of the incident is being conducted by the Southwest Washington Independent Investigative Response Team (SWIIRT), led by the Vancouver Police Department. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office is not involved in the deputy-involved shooting investigation, the release stated. CCSO will conduct its administrative investigation/review after the SWIIRT investigation is completed, the release added.
On June 20, 2023, in a unanimous vote, the Clark County Council authorized the county manager to sign a five-year contract with Axon Enterprises to provide BWCs and vehicle cameras to CCSO.
“The Sheriff’s Office cannot comment on the video release or the ongoing investigation,” the release stated. “The video’s release is meant to provide visual context of the incident, as it is understood to have occurred at this time by CCSO, according to the BWC video. The video does not encompass the complete context of all recordings captured by all five body cameras.”
The Critical Incident Video can be viewed on the clark.wa.gov/sheriff/body-worn-cam era-bwc-program.
