Policeman cleared to return to duty

By Katie Teachout

The Journal

RITZIVLLE — Law enforcement officer Jeff Lane is back on duty after an investigative team ruled his use of lethal force was justified.

Lane, who works for both the Police Department and Adams County Sheriff’s Office, shot and killed Shawn Lee, 48, of Susanville, Calif., during the early morning hours of April 12.

The machete-wielding Lee advanced on the officer and a Washington State Patrol trooper.

Lane first used his Taser to try to stop Lee, but that attempt was ineffective, according to an investigative report and video footage.

Ritzville Police Chief Dave McCormick said the Taser probes lodged in Lee’s thick winter coat.

“Lethal force was appropriate and applied, because there was no other alternative,” McCormick said. “The use of the taser was

ineffective, and this whole situation happened in a matter of seconds.

“Both of the probes were lodged in his heavy winter coat. They would have been able to have penetrated his torso, and they might have been effective, but might not. The Tasers are only tools.”

McCormick said Stevens County Prosecuting Attorney tim Rasmussen met with six members of the Columbia Basin Investigative Team last Tuesday.

“After the prosecuting attorney had the case presented to him, he had the opportunity to ask questions of the officers, who did the presentation and get clarification on different things,” McCormick said. “It was his determination that the force Jeff used was authorized under law. There was no other option.”

After Lee was shot, law enforcement officers called an ambulance and performed CPR, records show.

Lee was pronounced dead at the East Adams Rural Health District hospital, just blocks away from the shooting at Love’s Travel Stop and Country Stores, 1370 N. State Highway 261.

Lane, a full-time deputy with Adams County Sheriff’s Office, returned to work Wednesday, May 6.

Lane has been employed part-time with the city Police Department for the past several years. He was working under city authority when he took the call, along with a state trooper, that ended in the fatality.

McCormick said Lane is not scheduled to come back to work for the city in May, but would return to work in June, pending his schedule with the Sheriff’s Office and the city needs.

“I already had the schedule done, and we didn’t know when Jeff was going to be able to return,” McCormick said. “So, I didn’t plug him in for May. But he is cleared to return to work.”