Who is Kevin Peterson Jr.? Kevin Peterson Jr. Bio/Wiki

The man fatally shot by Clark County sheriff’s deputies in a bank parking lot Thursday was identified Friday as Kevin E. Peterson Jr., a 21-year-old Black man who lived in Camas.

The details of the shooting outside Vancouver remained unknown Friday, but concerns about what occurred in the aftermath of police shootings of Black people around the nation were almost immediately ignited.

Protesters gathered at the scene for a small protest and a vigil was organized for Friday night as some leaders of the group urged calm.

Kevin Peterson Jr was shot and killed around 6 pm on Thursday. As of right now, his body is still lying in the streets of Vancouver, Washington. Activists in the area are at the scene protesting, facing off against the local law enforcement. pic.twitter.com/FAqbVNmJfw

— Vishal P Singh (@VPS_Reports) October 30, 2020

Age

He was 21 years old.

Killed By Deputies Full Details

The shooting, which took place in the Hazel Dell area near the 6800 block of NE Hwy 99, happened just before 6 p.m. According to a statement made public by the Sheriff’s Office of Clark County.

In Hazel Dell Washington a small but growing crowd of protesters have assembled at the site Kevin Peterson Jr. was shot by police earlier this evening. pic.twitter.com/XcrqG8gH62

— Sean BoOOoscom 🎃👻🧛‍♂️ (@baaascom) October 30, 2020

The office of the Sheriff reported that deputies “were involved in a shooting” but did not publish any further information.

Investigation

Sheriff’s officials from Clark County initially said the shooting would be handled by the Camas department. In an email to The Oregonian / OregonLive, Camas Police Chief Mitch Lackey later said that the case is under review by the regional Southwest Washington Independent Investigation Unit, not by his department.

Family

Jake Thompson was Peterson’s high school mate. The two graduated from Vancouver’s Union High School. Thompson said that after middle school, Peterson relocated from Portland to Vancouver.

He said Peterson was a well-liked student in Portland and Vancouver with a wide circle of friends. In 2017, he graduated. He said that Peterson was enjoying having a daughter.

Witness

Footage posted by observers reveals a crowd of up to 40 demonstrators outside the United States shouting the name of the victim. The parking lot for the bank.

Sign o the times pic.twitter.com/aDXtFnDBZg

— Sean BoOOoscom 🎃👻🧛‍♂️ (@baaascom) October 30, 2020

The audience is heard chanting, “Kevin Peterson. Scream his name.”

others added, “Who’re lives matter? Black lives matter,”

As she drove home about 6 a.m., a Portland woman who drove across the border to attend the scene spoke to Newsweek. On Friday PDT.

“They left his body out there for almost exactly 12 hours,” the woman, who did not wish to be identified, said.

The witness said she watched as the parents of Peterson were taken in the early hours of the morning to identify the body, but blamed the police for “prioritizing getting his car out of there before his body.”

In Hazel Dell Washington a small but growing crowd of protesters have assembled at the site Kevin Peterson Jr. was shot by police earlier this evening. pic.twitter.com/XcrqG8gH62

— Sean BoOOoscom 🎃👻🧛‍♂️ (@baaascom) October 30, 2020

“His mom just broke down. I’ve never heard a sound like that.” Up to 5:30 a.m. The family and the rest of the crowd had left the scene, she said.

Thompson, who lives in New York City, said, “He was excited to be a girl ‘s dad.”

He said that because of the national movement surrounding police treatment of people of color, Peterson’s death was easily overshadowed by politics, but Thompson said he did not want Peterson’s life to get lost in those debates.

“The life of somebody is not political,” he said. “The body of somebody is not political. That’s a person that people can’t get back. This is the father of someone they can’t get back, or their boyfriend, or their son, or their brother. That’s a loss.

One witness, who only identified to be known by his first name, Dan, said that when he noticed several police cars entering the U.S., he was traveling along Highway 99. The parking lot for banks.

I took this photo of KP a couple years ago at his parents wedding that I was lucky enough to photograph. I thought I’d share. Rest in paradise @_splashkp 🕊 pic.twitter.com/324hvaiQpM

— Jake Thompson (@__27K) October 30, 2020

The guy told Oregon Live that in the parking lot there was a black man, “just hopping around, looking worried.”

He said officers pulled up and left their vehicles with weapons drawn and fired rapidly.

“And all of a sudden, we’re just starting to hear pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop,” he said. “We didn’t realize how quickly it was happening.”

The witness said that when police arrived and seemed to have his hands in his pockets, the man who was shot “looked very afraid.”

Joseph Webster, 18, also saw an altercation before hearing “lots of bullets” between the police and a person who appeared to be running.

Webster said he was working with a client in the back of a company when he heard tires screeching across the street in the U.S. Parking lot for the bank.

BREAKING:
Reported officer-involved shooting with an individual deceased at the scene. https://t.co/d1MiQbTdaI

— Shane B. Murphy (@shanermurph) October 30, 2020

“With all the tires screeching, you can’t help but look,” he said to The Columbian.

He said he heard “lots of bullets” then.