Man shot by Vancouver police aimed imitation gun at police officers; investigation ongoing

Tanner Todd / oregonlive.com (TNS)

The man shot and killed by a Vancouver police officer on June 8 aimed a modified toy gun at the officer before he was shot, investigators say.

The findings from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office – which is independently investigating the fatal shooting of 43-year-old Vadim Saschendo by police officer Brandon Riedel – come about a week after Vancouver police released video of the incident last Thursday.

Vancouver police video shows footage of the incident from multiple angles from body and dashboard cameras and shows Sashchenko aiming what appears to be a weapon before Riedel shoots him. Part of the publicly available video shows a still image of the object in Sashchenko’s hand and refers to it as a weapon.

Riedel and another officer, Stuart Drynan, responded to the 100 block of Southeast Columbia Way on June 8 after receiving reports of a man with an aggressive German shepherd who was biting people. According to police officers and camera footage, Riedel found Sashchenko at 3 p.m. walking his dog on the sidewalk of Columbia Street near downtown Vancouver.

The camera footage shows Riedel stopping on the street across from Sashchenko and Sashchenko, 43, pointing what looks like a gun at him. Riedel responds by firing his gun at Sashchenko, the video shows.

The sheriff’s office said Sashchenko was holding a Super Cap Gun with the orange tip broken off, making it difficult to distinguish from a real firearm.

The sheriff’s office says the investigation is still ongoing.

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