Suspect in Tualatin deputy-involved shooting named; cause of death remains unknown
TUALATIN Ore. (KPTV) – Police have identified the man who allegedly shot and critically injured a Washington County deputy during an eviction Wednesday.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office says, 34-year-old Kristafer James Graves, who died during the incident, lived at the Timbers at Tualatin Apartments. When deputies arrived Wednesday to serve a court-ordered eviction notice, he reportedly opened fire on deputies, striking one multiple times around 10:21 a.m.
According to the WCSO, one deputy returned fire. The department adds initial information was indicating a possible physical confrontation between the deputies and Graves, however, this has been disproven, authorities say. Instead, Graves began firing from inside his apartment before deputies could speak with him.
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After the exchange of gunfire, Graves retreated inside his apartment, allegedly barricading himself.
Tactical teams eventually made entry into the apartment where Graves was found dead inside the bathroom with a gunshot wound. According to WCSO, it’s unclear at this time if “Graves was shot by law enforcement or if his gunshot wound was self-inflicted.” An autopsy will be done to determine his cause of death.
The injured deputy remains in critical condition at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.
A man who lives in an apartment directly below said he woke to gunshots and screaming.
“When I first looked out there there were three officers in that section,” he said. “One of them had what appeared to be a rifle with a scope, and two of them with a pistol, and they appeared to be pointing it up in this direction, right above me.”
Eventually, he was told to not leave his apartment, but by then, he had already gone to look at the scene, which was “pretty traumatic,” he said.
“There was like flesh and blood on the door - I have pictures on my phone - and there was a huge puddle of blood right here from when the officer was most likely sitting right there, most likely from when he went to the hospital,” he said. “As you can tell from the blood that seeped through, it had fallen directly onto my door.”
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The man added that he believes the shooting was an isolated incident.
“I feel really bad for the individual,” he said. “These kind of things are terrible, and it’s really sad when things like this happen.”
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Source: Fox 12 Oregon
