Deadly police shooting in Vancouver: Man had modified toy gun

VANCOUVER, Wash. – A man who was shot by a police officer near Vancouver’s waterfront on June 8 was in possession of a modified toy gun, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

Vancouver police had previously said the man, 43-year-old Vadim Sashchenko, pointed what appeared to be a firearm at a police officer and his patrol car before the officer shot and killed him.

On June 8, Vancouver police responded to a report of a man, later identified as Sashchenko, biting at least one person with a German Shepherd. Vancouver police had also said that Sashchenko was in possession of a firearm.

Two Vancouver police officers, Brandon Riedel and Stuart Drynan, found Sashchenko and the dog near the intersection of Columbia Avenue and Columbia Way. Vancouver police released dashboard camera video taken from Riedel’s vehicle. It shows Sashchenko holding up what appears to be a gun and pointing it at Riedel and his vehicle. Officer Riedel fires his weapon and four shots can be heard on the video as Sashchenko throws the object into the street and it lands on the ground. Sashchenko died at the scene.

Investigators found the object that Zashchenko was holding at the scene and concluded it was a modified toy gun, the sheriff’s office said Friday. The toy gun is sold with an orange tip that can be broken off, and “there was no orange tip on the replica used in this incident,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. Officials added that it appeared the handles on the sides of the replica had fallen off during the incident.

The Southwest Washington Independent Investigative Response Team, led by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, is investigating the fatal police shooting.