Pierce County deputies cleared in shooting man who threatened tavern, pulled handgun
Pierce County’s elected prosecutor has ruled that Sheriff’s Office deputies were justified in fatally shooting a 25-year-old man who threatened to shoot up the tavern he was fired from and later pointed a handgun at deputies.
The man who was killed, Branden Vorak, also held what appeared to be a fragmentation grenade during the confrontation and pulled its pin, but a bomb squad later found it was a “dummy” with no explosive charge, according to a letter Prosecutor Mary Robnett sent Tuesday to Sheriff Keith Swank.
The Pierce County Force Investigation Team, which investigates police uses of deadly force, determined the 9 mm handgun Vorak pulled was loaded. Robnett’s letter about the shooting included a factual summary it said was derived from police reports, 911 calls, witness statements, body-camera recordings and other evidence.
According to Robnett’s letter:
The investigation found that Vorak was struck by 10 gunshots fired by deputies Chad Chapman, Courtney Quandt and Derek Wetlaufer. At the time of the shooting, Chapman had been with the Sheriff’s Office for five-and-a-half years. Quandt had worked for the department for three months and previously spent more than 10 years with the Port of Seattle Police Department. Wetlaufer had been a deputy for nearly five years.
The day before the March 24, 2023 shooting, the manager of Cassidy’s Pub called 911 to report that Vorak had made concerning threats after he was fired for continuing to bring a handgun to work after being told not to, according to Robnett’s letter. Vorak then went to a nearby bar and reportedly told people he was planning to return to Cassidy’s the next day to shoot it up, shoot his manager and shoot responding police.
Someone from the bar warned the manager of Cassidy’s pub, prompting her to call 911. Another caller also reported hearing the threat.
“Some guy said he’s going to come shoot up a place tomorrow ... and I kinda believe him,” the caller reported.
Vorak showed up to Cassidy’s Pub at about 9 a.m. the next day. The manager again called 911 to report the man had returned and was trying to get inside, but she had locked the doors.
Deputy Jethra Houn contacted the manager to establish probable cause to arrest Vorak for felony harassment. Houn then located Vorak, who was walking south on nearby railroad tracks. The deputy ordered him to show his hands and get on the ground, but Vorak held out the grenade and pulled the pin.
Houn yelled, “Don’t do it.” Vorak reportedly said something incomprehensible and continued walking south.
More deputies arrived and continued to follow Vorak for more than a mile while repeatedly engaging him at gunpoint and ordering him to stop. He continued to refuse while walking by residences, businesses and two schools, Ford Middle School and Franklin Pierce High School, both of which were locked down during the incident.
The confrontation came to a head at about 10:10 a.m. as Vorak crossed the 112th Street overpass. Four deputies had positioned themselves near the railroad tracks just south of there. They were joined by a Washington State Patrol trooper, and Pierce Transit Public Safety Chief Ed Roberts was on the other side of the tracks.
As Vorak neared the group of law enforcement officers, deputy Justin Watts fired a less-lethal round at Vorak with an LMT Defense 40 mm launcher. Vorak was struck in the back but kept walking. The trooper, Brian Paine, then shot Vorak with bean bag rounds.
Roberts reported hearing Vorak swear, and he saw deputies on the other side of the embankment raise their rifles. He slid down the hill to avoid crossfire.
Vorak reached into his waistband and pulled out a handgun with his left hand. As he swung to point it at deputies, according to Robnett’s letter, three fired at Vorak simultaneously. A deputy immediately yelled for the others to get away from the grenade.
PCFIT investigators responded to the scene and used a drone with a camera to observe Vorak, who appeared to be deceased with the grenade next to him. A bomb squad then arrived and determined it was an inert MK 2 “Pineapple” grenade.
All of the deputies who shot Vorak and the state trooper declined to make statements to investigators.
Robnett said in her letter to Swank that the deputies were faced with what objectively appeared to be an imminent life-threatening situation, and they were each in a position to believe Vorak intended to harm them.
“Mr. Vorak created an imminent danger that he would kill any or all of the law enforcement officers near him,” Robnett wrote. “There was no reasonably effective alternative to stop Mr. Vorak than using immediate deadly force to stop his actions.”
