Family files federal suit in police shooting death of Kevin Peterson Jr.

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The family of a 21-year-old Clark County man fatally shot by police in 2020 has filed a federal lawsuit alleging negligence by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office led to his death.

On May 26, the lawsuit regarding the death of Kevin Peterson Jr. was filed in the Western District of Washington court. Filed on behalf of the family by Tacoma-based Herrmann Law Group, it alleges Clark County’s “deliberate indifference” led to poorly-trained deputies which resulted in Peterson’s death.

Peterson was shot four times by sheriff’s deputies following a drug sting in Hazel Dell in October 2020. A regional task force had set up a deal with Peterson for dozens of Xanax pills, and confronted Peterson in the parking lot of the Quality Inn on Northeast Highway 99. Peterson was shot in the back in the nearby U.S. Bank parking lot after fleeing from officers.

The county, the sheriff’s office, sheriff Chuck Atkins and two of the three deputies involved with the shooting — Robert Anderson and Johnathan Feller — are named in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims wrongful death, negligence, excessive force and brutality, unreasonable seizure, and deprivation of familial relationship against the defendants.

During a press conference the day of the filing, Mark Lindquist, an attorney from Herrmann Law Group, noted Peterson’s death was the third sheriff’s office-involved shooting in about 15 months. In February 2021, Jenoah Donald was shot by deputies after a traffic stop, and in January of this year, off-duty Vancouver Police Department officer Donald Sahota was shot at his home after being mistaken for a suspect in an armed robbery.

“Had Clark County responded appropriately to the Kevin Peterson shooting, had there been discipline or retraining, Jenoah Donald and officer Sahota might still be with us today,” Lindquist said.

Lindquist added previous investigations into Peterson’s shooting death found the officers were not criminally liable, but he noted there is a “vast difference between a criminal prosecution and a civil lawsuit.”

“There will be justice and accountability in this case, but it will come through our civil prosecution,” he said.

Lindquist said the goals of the lawsuit are accountability, justice, and reform in the sheriff’s department. A specific dollar amount has not been named since it is not required in federal suits, Lindquist said, but it will be determined further along in the process.



Tammi Bell, Peterson’s mother, pleaded for change at the sheriff’s office during the press conference.

“It would mean the world to me to see a change,” Bell said. “I have more children. I want them alive.”

Bell said body-worn cameras for deputies should be implemented “immediately.” The county is currently putting forth a measure on the August primary ballot that would fund a body camera program through a sales tax increase.

Lindquist noted the law enforcement community is generally supportive of body-worn camera implementation.

“There shouldn’t be any more stalling on that,” Lindquist said.

One of the deputies named in the lawsuit, Feller, was also involved with the death of Sahota in January. The lawsuit pointed out parallels in the conduct of Feller in both shootings, according to Lindquist, which he said pointed to a training issue at the sheriff’s office.

“In both instances, deputy Feller was not part of the original operation but took it upon himself to race to the scene, and in both instances he shot his weapon within seconds of arriving at the scene,” Lindquist said.

A third deputy involved in the shooting, Jeremy Brown, was fatally shot by a suspect in another case while conducting surveillance in Vancouver in July.

Lindquist said the lawsuit is intended to discover more information about the shooting. He said the legal team would use video enhancement on surveillance footage — something that was not done in previous investigations — in order to determine whether Peterson had a cellphone in his hand or a firearm.