Residents and law enforcement members gathered Tuesday to honor a Vancouver police officer who was mistakenly fatally shot Jan. 29 by a Clark County sheriff’s deputy during a search for a man suspected of armed robbery.
A procession of as many as 400 emergency vehicles from law enforcement and EMS agencies headed toward ilani casino where a service began at 1 p.m. for 52-year-old officer Donald Sahota.
Sahota was stabbed by a man who showed up at his home while evading police, and then was mistakenly shot by a sheriff’s deputy. The shooting is under investigation.
Washington and United States flags at all state agency facilities were lowered to half-staff in his memory.
Sahota was hired by the Vancouver Police Department in April 2014. Before that, he worked as a police officer for the Gresham and Port of Portland police departments.
During his career with the Vancouver Police Department, Sahota worked in patrol, served as an EVOC (emergency vehicle operators course) instructor, an armorer, and was most recently assigned to the Training Unit.
He leaves behind a wife and two children.
A bank account has been set up for donations to the Sahota family. Anyone who would like to contribute can visit a Chase bank branch and ask to donate to the Officer Sahota Memorial Fund.
Cards or letters can be mailed to Vancouver Police HQ605, E Evergreen Blvd., Vancouver, WA 98661. The department will forward the correspondence to the family.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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