Washington State Auditor's Office reports released Oct. 29 examined how local law enforcement handled the independent investigations into two deputy-involved shootings in Clark County in 2024, finding that agencies generally followed the law but came up short in a key area: keeping the public informed on a weekly basis as the investigations unfolded.
The two reports looked at the fatal shootings of Jonathan Gale, 53, of Brush Prairie, and Benjamin Steven Woods, 41, of Prineville, Oregon, according to The Columbian. The audits concluded that investigators generally complied with state law on independent use-of-force investigations but fell short in some areas, including providing weekly public updates, the newspaper reported.
The audits stem from Washington's legal framework governing deadly-force investigations. Under RCW 43.101.460, the State Auditor's Office is authorized to conduct a process-compliance audit and review of any deadly-force investigation carried out under the state's independent investigation statute, giving the office standing to scrutinize how these cases were handled from start to finish.
One of the Shootings Detailed in Earlier Reporting
One of the two cases reviewed in the audits appears to be the Feb. 20, 2024 shooting that unfolded at the 12500 block of Northeast 152nd Avenue in Vancouver, as previously reported by KOIN. Three deputies fired at the man during the confrontation, while two other deputies witnessed the use of force, the station reported at the time.
Investigators later said two loaded firearms, including a revolver, were found on or near the man, per the same KOIN account. The continuing investigation was led by the Vancouver Police Department as part of the Southwest Washington Independent Investigative Response Team, and as of a March 5, 2024 update, DNA and firearm analysis were still being completed by the Washington State Patrol crime lab.
Broader Pattern of Scrutiny on Clark County Shootings
This is not the first time outside reviewers have examined how Clark County handles officer-involved shootings. A 2023 editorial in The Columbian described an earlier state auditor's report covering three Clark County police shootings as a meaningful example of governmental transparency that carved out a path for improving investigations. That earlier round of reports did not examine the legality of the shootings reviewed at the time, which dated to 2020 and 2021, according to the same editorial.
The newly released Oct. 29 reports follow that same pattern: they assess whether investigative processes met legal requirements, not whether the shootings themselves were legally justified. For Clark County residents who have watched multiple fatal encounters between sheriff's deputies and community members play out over recent years, the audits represent one of the few independent checks on how those investigations are actually conducted behind the scenes.
Neither the full text of the audit reports nor the Sheriff's Office's formal response has been made public in the reporting reviewed so far, leaving open questions about what specific steps, if any, will follow the findings on weekly public updates.
