Updated at 9:03 a.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Coroner’s Office this morning identified the man shot by a sheriff’s deputy yesterday as Gregory S. Kaufman.
Kaufman is 64 years old and a Napavine resident.
Coroner Warren McLeod said an autopsy later today should provide answers and details about the cause of death, the number of times he was shot and what were the injuries Deputy Matt Wallace saw that he thought were self-inflicted.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says Deputy Wallace approached Kaufman’s parked car off state Route 6 early yesterday morning and a heavily bleeding man lunged out of the car with a large knife.
The deputy is on paid leave as the shooting is being investigated by a team of outside law enforcement officers.
Coroner McLeod said Kaufman has no family he could find. His office learned from Kaufman’s girlfriend that he is divorced, has no children and his parents are deceased, according to McLeod.
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For background, read “Deputy fatally shoots Napavine man on state Route 6” from Thursday November 1, 2012 at 8:30 a.m., here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Hey one thing is I knew Greg. He was married to my mother and even know he was an ass, it’s doen’t mean he was a phsyco or anything just different. He had his own way of doing things. We may have not gotten alone and I may have not like him that much. But he was my mothers husband. And you so called experts. You are you don’t know and he didn’t have and run ins with the police, other than a few tickets. So there now you know . I think that the cop could have used a taser. He could have taken him down that way. But know he saw fit to kill him . So what comes into question is did the officer use the choice in this matter. I think not but that is just me. I have alot of police abd former cops I know well and I know they would use other than deadly force to bring someone one down. To everyone out there make sure you know that facts before saying someone is a phsyco or unstable before you open you mouth and insert for both feet in this case.
This was like a dad to me and the officer was wrong, I lost a good man that day. He didn’t have a crimnal record, he had one speeding ticket, where was the taser? I hired an atty TRAIN POLICE BETTER.
The police are trained! Their methods are wrong. Hard to know the truth when the defendant is killed. What happened to “innocent until proven guilty?” in the reports? This has to stop! Dead men can’t speak, right? And public remember: The truths are hard to get to from the offices that protect each other. The McKnight / Petersen killing was filled with lots of wrong or omitted information that was given by the investigators. The police department is shameful. My heart goes out to this family, sincerely.
@ The Dirty cop enforcer, Even with dash cams it wouldn’t make it a open and shut case. There was a officer involved shoot in Paradise California in March that proves this. Nothing is ever that neat/ clean and can be so easily compartmentalized. You’d have to understand Gregs way of thinking, what he’s been through, what/who he’s lost. While I grieve for both men I am truely sorry to the officer for Greg putting him in that position.
One thing to keep in mind, is that sometimes these people have a long background of violence and police records which help solidify in the end that being shot while attempting to attack an officer is better than that person approaching someone else out of anger and having an innocent person be injured or killed.
Joe so are you saying the cops are criminals and wearing camera’s would cause a bigger problem? I know I’m onto something here. The time has come to take the word over Video Camera then a Police Officers Word. The videos and dirty police stories are all over the internet. There has to be a way the police can get their image back. Americans are getting sick of corrupt police behavior and the police need to be saved from the problems they have created. Don’t get me wrong we need police but what we don’t need is Liars in Uniform, and the ever growing corruption needs to stop. Just look at the Seattle police department, they were in the news again last night. Camera and audio recording tell the truth, if the police really stood for the truth they would get cameras as soon a possible. The Matthew McKnight case could cost ten million dollars, if cameras were in their cars this could of been an open and shut case.
Everyone I am not the Enemy, I put my pants on just like you do. One leg at a time
Great DCE, lets have the officers wear
and carry ALL that! Then you can have more lawsuits when they dont use the right Equipment/weapon.
Kurt great comment.. you are so right, once again Body Cameras and Updating the sheriff’s office with technology that records the scene of the crime will be a great tool in restoring the Faith Back into Police Departments across the United States. I’m sure we will see the change in our lifetimes. We really do need police officers, but we need them to be civil and properly trained to handle conflicts like this. I have used bear mace and it will stop you in your tracks, Tasers are less lethal devices and can kill. Their are also Net Devices that sudue people also. Sound Gun and Light Technology will be a future weapon of the Sheriff’s Department. After all the Law Suits that have been filed could of easily outfitted the whole department….
“I was wondering;”
How Refreshing. An honest question with honest intent.
kurt wetzold, thank you for helping me understand.
Police are not trained to kill or wound…they are trained to stop the threat…period. It is simply not possible in a situation that evolves in milli seconds to try and aim at point where not vital organs exist. Many people who are shot die not from the location the round strikes, , but from shock or blood loss. When training they train to strike the center mass of the largest body part offered. That is the sum of it. This has been argued for many, many years and the answer is to stop the threat….what ever level of force is used from the officers presence to deadly force the amount used should never exceed the amount of resistance offered. The hands kill…if they are not shown or an object will not be dropped, an officer must defend his life. Some individuals die not because they have a deadly weapon, but because they will not obey an order to show their hands or drop an object. The Supreme court case that is the rule against which all dealy force cases are judged states that only information known to the officer at the time may be considered in wheather the amount of force used was reasonable. His or her actions can not be judged based upon information learned after the fact. When using force, an officer may consider, time of day, location, the criminal history known to the officer, past threats against law enforcement etc… When reading about an officer involved shooting, remember that an officer has only just seconds to make a desicion that will affect his life and the lives of others. Please be careful not to judge an officer or his actions, based soley upon what you read in the paper.
Chris, do you realize that you may have opened up a pandora’s box with that question? Get comfortable . . .
I was wondering;
why police couldn’t have shot to stop and not soot to kill an injured 64 yr old man.
I know the many places they could have shot to stop, being that I am a medical person. I do respect what the police have to face on a day to day basis because my father was an officer in California and would never want police to be in danger. I would really like to hear what the community thinks of all the officer shooting deaths in the recent months. Please post your thoughts.