Name of Pierce County deputy who shot man during suspected child abuse call is released
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department deputy who shot and injured a 54-year-old man during a standoff Friday in Parkland was identified Monday by a county team that investigates police uses of deadly force.
That deputy is Jared Beem, 25, who has been with the Sheriff’s Department for nine months, the Pierce County Force Investigation Team said in a news release. Deputies responded after a 10-year-old boy called 911 to say his father had been drinking and tried to hit him and his younger brother.
The father, Eric Quentin Smith, was charged Monday in Pierce County Superior Court with second-degree assault. Following the standoff, he was transported to a local hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound to the shoulder. He was booked into Pierce County Jail on Saturday.
Smith pleaded not guilty at arraignment Monday afternoon, and his bail was set at $2,500.
Deputies responded about 8 p.m. the night of the incident to an apartment complex in the 200 block of 125th Street South. A South Sound 911 dispatcher heard the boys’ father say he had a gun. According to a statement from PCFIT, a sheriff’s deputy at the scene told another dispatcher, “He’s going to shoot us.”
At 8:10 p.m., deputies helped the two boys escape the apartment through a window in the bedroom, where the children had locked themselves in. A moment later, Smith was shot by deputies.
No deputies were injured.
According to charging documents filed against Smith, two deputies allegedly saw a handgun being pointed out a window through blinds. The gun was pointed in the direction of deputies. The probable cause document states that’s when Beem fired one gunshot, striking the man.
Smith called 911 at 8:11 p.m. to report he had been shot, according to the PCFIT statement. A negotiator began to speak with him. He surrendered at 9:28 p.m.
Charging documents say that between the time Smith was shot and when he surrendered, he refused commands to exit the apartment and continued to appear at the window, openly displaying his handgun. According to the probable cause document, the defendant eventually came outside while still armed and walked into the parking lot, where he was detained.
