Puyallup incident seventh police shooting in Pierce County this year. Here are the others
There have been seven police shootings in Pierce County so far this year, including one Wednesday morning in Puyallup by a Seattle police officer.
The outcomes of those vary. Two were fatal, three resulted in injuries, it’s unclear if anybody was hit in one and one ended with the suspect killing himself.
Here is information on each shooting:
Jan. 25: Pierce County sheriff’s deputy Aaron Aguilar fatally shot John Ostbye, 50, with a rifle inside a mobile home at 9816 193rd St. E. in Graham. Deputies were responding to a 911 call from Ostbye’s father that Ostbye was waving around a .22-caliber pistol during a fight. Although the father was able to hide the gun from his son, deputies broke out a window when they heard what appeared to be a physical fight and Ostbye allegdly rushed at Aguilar with a knife. A 13-inch carving knife and a two-pronged carving fork were found near Ostbye’s body.
March 4: Bonney Lake officer Tobie Johnston fired at two people inside a vehicle in the Speedway Express parking lot, 19825 state Route 410, after the driver struck her with the car. She was responding to a call about people passed out in the vehicle with drug paraphernalia in their laps. It’s unknown if anybody was struck by the officer since the vehicle fled. It was recovered the following day with nobody inside.
April 15: Pierce County sheriff’s deputy Christopher Trask shot a 70-year-old who allegedly produced a handgun after deputies responded to a domestic violence call in the 14900 block of 272nd Avenue East in Buckley.
May 12: A Pierce County sheriff’s deputy shot at a 52-year-old man inside a van at 173rd Street South and A Street South after hearing gunshots as he approached. He’d been called by neighbors reporting a suspicious person parked outside an apartment complex. The Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that the man committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a rifle.
June 7: Four officers shot at Janae Bunten after she came out of her Puyallup townhouse in the 500 block of Valley Avenue NE and allegedly fired a rifle at police. Bunten’s family called police to check on Nicholas Bunten, her husband. He was found dead inside the home after Janae Bunten was shot eight times by police and taken to an area hospital.
The officers who returned fire were: Eric Alfano, 42, who has been with the Bonney Lake Police Department for 13 years; Ryan Micenki, 38, who has been with the Fife Police Department for 14 years; Andrew Bond, 32, who has been with the Puyallup Police Department for nine years; and Patrick Thomson, 32, who became a Puyallup police officer two years ago.
June 25: A Fife police officer and Washington State trooper fatally shot a man suspected of stealing a truck from the Coca Cola distribution center in the 3500 block of 20th Street East who led them on a brief pursuit and struck a patrol car. Investigators have not identified the law enforcement officers involved or the victim.
The Pierce County Force Investigation Team is looking into all the shootings except Wednesday’s by the Seattle officer. Updates on those cases can be found here.
June 30: A Seattle police officer shot and injured somebody while serving a search warrant in the 1000 block of 7th Avenue SE in Puyallup as part of a regional drug and illegal weapons investigation.
This story was originally published June 30, 2021 at 11:41 AM.
