Brier mayor addresses fired police officer

The city of Brier is breaking its silence on the firing of a police officer.  KIRO 7 first broke this story Tuesday when we spoke to Dan Anderson, who says he was terminated for leaving city limits to respond to the Mukilteo shooting that killed three teens.

Thursday Brier’s mayor issued a statement, and when we showed it to Anderson he was flabbergasted.

“They are feeling the heat from scrutiny, they realize that’s indefensible, that’s appalling,” Anderson told us.

In the letter Brier city mayor Bob Colinas says Anderson’s version of events is “not a complete or accurate description.”

Colinas writes that Anderson was not meeting expectations in “several key performance related matters” and that he had to repeat training.  But Anderson says that’s not so unusual since he was learning a new computer system.

Colinas said Anderson’s decision to respond to Mukilteo is “another example of a performance issue” and that there were other, closer departments with more officers while Brier had just Anderson.

“But I’m sorry, if officers are being overwhelmed by circumstances of tactical disadvantage in a certain situation like for instance a shooter on a roof might present, they are entitled to ask for help,” Anderson responded.

He also points out he arrived at that scene quicker than some of the closer agencies mentioned in the mayor’s letter.  We asked the mayor to go on camera but he declined.

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Cox Media Group