When a Routine Morning Turned Into a Deadly Police Pursuit in Washington State

Salmon Creek, Washington — April 13, 2024

There are moments in a police pursuit when everything changes in a matter of seconds.

A vehicle reported stolen. A witness making a hurried phone call. Deputies searching an ordinary commercial area. A suspect disappearing from sight. And then, unexpectedly, a building filled with people becomes the final location of a confrontation that would end with a man dead and an independent investigation underway.

The image accompanying this story presents a dramatic roadside confrontation involving deputies and a vehicle. However, it should be treated as an illustrative thumbnail rather than documentary evidence of the actual scene. The case that most closely matches the first incident referenced in the supplied video is the April 13, 2024 confrontation involving Benjamin Steven Woods in Salmon Creek, Washington. The video itself is a compilation of police pursuits from multiple jurisdictions, and its chapter listing identifies the Salmon Creek case as its opening incident.

What happened that morning was far more complicated than a simple chase.

And the most important part of the story happened after the vehicle was found.

The Morning Started With a Report of a Carjacking

It was Saturday, April 13, 2024, in the Clark County area of southwest Washington.

According to reports released after the incident, the Clark County Sheriff's Office received a report at approximately 10:38 a.m. concerning a carjacking in the Hazel Dell area. The victim reported that a man and a woman had taken his van, and authorities were told that the male suspect was armed with a handgun.

At that point, deputies were dealing with what appeared to be a serious but rapidly developing vehicle crime.

The stolen van was no longer where the original incident had occurred.

The suspects were gone.

And somewhere in the surrounding area, investigators believed an armed man and a woman were still moving.

But then another report came in.

Only about sixteen minutes after the initial report, deputies were dispatched toward the Salmon Creek area following a separate suspicious-circumstances call near a Goodwill store. Witnesses reported that a man and woman had attempted to take another vehicle while someone was inside it.

The descriptions reportedly matched the suspects from the earlier Hazel Dell incident.

That second report changed the nature of the search.

Investigators were no longer simply looking for a stolen vehicle.

They were looking for people believed to have been involved in more than one attempted vehicle theft, with authorities saying the male suspect was armed.

And the search was moving closer to a location where members of the public were present.

The Stolen Van Becomes the First Major Clue

Deputies searching the Salmon Creek area eventually located the stolen van.

It was parked behind the American Legion building at 14011 NE 20th Avenue.

That location would soon become the center of the investigation.

According to reporting from KTVZ and other outlets, deputies were in the area searching for the suspects when they saw a man emerge from behind a shipping container in the parking lot. Authorities later identified the man as 41-year-old Benjamin Steven Woods of Prineville, Oregon.

The situation that followed was captured on body-worn cameras.

Those recordings would eventually become one of the most important pieces of evidence in the case.

The footage shows deputies giving Woods commands and moving to contain the situation. According to reporting based on the released video, Woods briefly raised his hands before moving backward and reaching toward his pockets. Deputies continued giving commands while trying to determine whether he was armed.

At one point, a deputy warned that Woods appeared to have a gun.

The officers did not immediately fire.

Instead, the confrontation continued.

That detail matters because the incident did not begin with officers immediately using deadly force. The available accounts describe a period in which deputies were issuing commands, attempting to control Woods' movements and following him as he moved around the property.

Then Woods moved toward the building.

And the situation became even more difficult.

The Chase Moved Inside

The American Legion was not an empty building.

People were inside.

According to KTVZ's account of the released body-camera footage, deputies followed Woods through a doorway and into the building. A K-9 was involved as deputies continued searching for him.

Inside, the environment was dramatically different from the parking lot.

There were walls, doors, corridors and rooms.

And there were civilians.

KTVZ reported that at least a dozen people could be seen inside the American Legion hall during the body-camera footage.

That meant the deputies were no longer dealing with a suspect in an open parking lot.

They were now operating inside a crowded public building.

Every movement mattered.

Every doorway represented another unknown.

And every person inside the building potentially faced the consequences of what happened next.

The footage reportedly shows deputies moving through the building with the K-9 at the front.

Woods eventually moved toward an area containing bathrooms.

For the people inside the building, there was little indication of how quickly the situation was developing.

For the deputies, however, the circumstances were becoming increasingly urgent.

The Moment Everything Changed

According to the released body-camera footage described by multiple news organizations, deputies eventually encountered Woods near the bathroom area.

This is where the incident reached its critical point.

Police1 reported that the footage shows Woods pointing a handgun in the direction of deputies and people nearby. The same report identified Deputy Jim Payne and Deputy Michael Gonzalez as the two deputies who fired their weapons, while Sgt. Fred Harrison and Deputy Enrique Cordero were identified as witness deputies.

The confrontation lasted only moments.

The deputies opened fire.

Woods fell.

A handgun was recovered near him.

And the pursuit that had begun with a report of a stolen van ended inside the American Legion.

Benjamin Steven Woods died at the scene.

The Clark County Medical Examiner later identified him and reported that he died from multiple gunshot wounds.

No deputies were reported injured in the shooting.

The people inside the building also survived the incident.

But what happened inside that building immediately raised another question:

What exactly happened during those final seconds, and was the use of force justified under Washington law?

That question could not simply be answered by watching a few seconds of video.

Why the Body-Camera Footage Became So Important

When an officer-involved shooting occurs, there are usually multiple perspectives that have to be examined.

Witness accounts.

911 calls.

Physical evidence.

Ballistics.

Body-camera recordings.

Statements from officers.

Statements from witnesses.

And the circumstances that led officers to encounter the suspect in the first place.

In the Salmon Creek case, investigators did not simply rely on the deputies' initial account.

An independent investigation was opened.

The Southwest Washington Independent Investigative Response Team, known as SWIIRT, was assigned to investigate the officer-involved use of force. The City of Vancouver announced that the investigation involved the April 13 incident at the American Legion and that the recovered firearm would be sent to the Washington State Patrol for testing.

Investigators also interviewed witnesses.

Lots of them.

According to the City of Vancouver's April 26 update, detectives had conducted more than 50 witness interviews involving people who were inside the American Legion and staff members who were present that day.

That detail provides an important reminder about what can be missed when a dramatic video is viewed without context.

The body-camera footage shows only one part of the event.

The investigators were tasked with reconstructing the entire chain of events.

The Four Deputies Were Identified

As the investigation continued, authorities identified the deputies involved.

The two deputies who fired their weapons were Jim Payne and Michael Gonzalez.

The two witness deputies were Sgt. Fred Harrison and Deputy Enrique Cordero.

Their professional histories also became public.

Reports said Payne had been with the Clark County Sheriff's Office since 2000.

Harrison had served with the office since 2006.

Gonzalez and Cordero joined the sheriff's office in 2021.

Following an officer-involved shooting, placing involved officers on critical-incident leave is a standard investigative procedure. Reports indicated that all four deputies were placed on critical-incident leave while the investigation proceeded.

That process does not itself determine whether an officer acted properly or improperly.

It is part of separating the involved officers from the scene while investigators examine the evidence.

What Happened to the Woman?

The case did not end with Woods.

Investigators were also looking for the woman who authorities said had been involved in the earlier incidents.

After the shooting, deputies continued searching the surrounding area.

According to KTVZ, the woman was later identified as Lyndsey Jones, 42. A homeowner reportedly found her hiding in a garage, contacted 911 and followed her toward a nearby business parking lot, where deputies arrested her.

Her legal situation was separate from the shooting investigation.

The Reflector later reported that the charge initially filed against Jones was residential burglary and that it was subsequently reduced to first-degree criminal trespass.

That distinction is important.

The case involved several different alleged actions, different people and different stages of the investigation.

The shooting involving Woods was one part of a much larger sequence of events that began with the reported carjacking in Hazel Dell.

A Saturday Morning That Became a Major Investigation

From a distance, the story might look straightforward:

A vehicle was allegedly taken.

Police searched for the suspects.

The vehicle was located.

A suspect encountered deputies.

A shooting followed.

But the timeline shows why investigators treated the case as something much more complicated.

The first call came from Hazel Dell.

A second report came from Salmon Creek.

The descriptions of the suspects reportedly matched.

The stolen vehicle was located.

A suspect entered a public building.

Deputies followed.

The suspect moved through the building.

A confrontation occurred near the bathrooms.

Shots were fired.

And an independent investigation began almost immediately.

The location itself added another layer.

The American Legion was not simply an abandoned structure.

People were inside.

KTVZ reported that body-camera footage showed numerous people in the hall.

That meant the investigators had to consider not only what the deputies and Woods did, but also the environment around them.

Where were the civilians?

Where were the deputies?

What could each person see?

Where was the firearm?

What commands were given?

What movements were made?

How much time passed between each action?

Those questions are precisely why body-camera footage can become so important in officer-involved shooting investigations.

The Investigation Continued After the Cameras Stopped

One of the easiest mistakes viewers can make is assuming that the video itself provides the complete answer.

It doesn't.

A camera has a field of view.

It has an audio range.

It may not capture what happened behind the camera.

It cannot necessarily show what an officer believed was happening at the exact moment a decision was made.

And it cannot independently determine someone's legal intent.

That is why SWIIRT continued its investigation after the body-camera footage was released.

The City of Vancouver stated that investigators were processing the recovered firearm through the Washington State Patrol and that the final medical examiner's report was pending at the time of its April 26 update. The investigative file was ultimately intended to be forwarded to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for review once the investigation was completed.

In other words, releasing the video was not the end of the process.

It was part of the process.

The Questions Viewers Still Ask

When viewers see footage like this, the same questions naturally appear again and again.

Why didn't the suspect simply surrender?

Why did he continue moving?

Could the confrontation have ended differently?

Why did deputies follow him into the building?

What did officers know before entering?

How close were other people to the confrontation?

What exactly was in Woods' hand?

How many shots were fired?

Were all of the shots necessary?

And perhaps the biggest question:

What happened in the final seconds that led deputies to believe they had to use deadly force?

These questions are legitimate.

But answering them responsibly requires more than a thumbnail or a short clip.

The released body-camera footage provides important visual evidence, while the independent investigation provides the broader framework for examining what occurred.

Police1 reported that the footage shows Woods pointing a handgun toward deputies before they fired.

That is a significant piece of evidence.

At the same time, the legal evaluation of an officer-involved shooting depends on the full circumstances and applicable law, not simply on whether an individual frame appears dramatic.

That is why the investigation involved interviews, firearm testing, medical evidence and multiple recordings rather than relying on one moment alone.

The Difference Between a Chase Video and the Real Story

The supplied video is titled:

“High-Speed Police Pursuits Caught on Dashcam | Intense Moments Across the USA 🇺🇸”

But the actual compilation covers numerous incidents from different states and jurisdictions.

Its own chapter listing identifies the Salmon Creek case at the beginning and then moves on to incidents in places including Los Angeles, Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Georgia and other locations. The page also states that the material is presented as a compilation with commentary and includes a disclaimer that individuals shown are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

That means the title should not be interpreted as describing one single nationwide chase.

Instead, it is a collection of separate law-enforcement incidents.

The Salmon Creek incident is particularly striking because the situation moved from an alleged carjacking to a search, then into a public building, and ultimately into a fatal officer-involved shooting.

That progression is what makes the case worth examining beyond the dramatic thumbnail.

What the Image Does — and Does Not — Tell Us

The supplied thumbnail shows deputies near a black sedan on a roadside, with an armed confrontation taking place beside the vehicle.

It looks like a moment taken from a high-speed pursuit.

But there is an important distinction between visual storytelling and documentary evidence.

The image is not sufficient to establish that the photographed scene is the actual location where Benjamin Steven Woods was killed.

The verified reporting places the fatal confrontation at the American Legion at 14011 NE 20th Avenue in Salmon Creek/Vancouver, Washington, rather than on the open highway shown in the thumbnail.

For a blog, this distinction is worth making.

Using a dramatic thumbnail can attract attention.

But the article should tell readers what is confirmed and what is illustrative.

That actually makes the story more credible.

The Larger Issue: What Happens When a Pursuit Enters a Community?

There is another reason this case continues to attract attention.

Police pursuits are not isolated events.

They can affect everyone around them.

A fleeing vehicle can enter a residential neighborhood.

A suspect can run into a business.

A pursuit can end near pedestrians.

And officers can suddenly have to make decisions in places where civilians are present.

Washington has spent years debating how law enforcement should balance the need to apprehend fleeing suspects against the risks created by vehicle pursuits. A Washington State Senate report, for example, described concerns about injuries and deaths associated with high-speed pursuits and noted that pursuit policies vary among agencies.

Those broader policy debates provide context, but they should not be confused with the facts of the Woods case.

The Salmon Creek investigation concerned a specific incident, specific deputies, a specific suspect and specific evidence.

The broader debate is about how pursuit policies should work across the state.

Those are related questions, but they are not the same question.

What Remains With the Viewer

The most powerful part of this story is not necessarily the gunfire.

It is the chain of events that led there.

A report at 10:38 in the morning.

A second call roughly sixteen minutes later.

A stolen van.

A search around Salmon Creek.

A suspect emerging near a shipping container.

Commands in a parking lot.

A movement toward a building.

A K-9 entering the structure.

Civilians inside.

A bathroom area.

A handgun.

And then, in only a few seconds, a fatal confrontation.

Each event followed the one before it.

And once the first call came in, no one knew exactly where the situation would end.

That is perhaps the most important lesson from footage like this.

A pursuit is rarely just a pursuit.

A traffic stop is rarely just a traffic stop.

And a police call that appears routine at first can become something much more serious before anyone has time to understand what is happening.

The Final Picture

Benjamin Steven Woods, 41, of Prineville, Oregon, died on April 13, 2024, after Clark County Sheriff's deputies shot him inside the American Legion in the Salmon Creek area of southwest Washington. Authorities had been searching for a man and woman connected to reported carjacking incidents earlier that morning. The stolen van was found behind the American Legion, and deputies encountered Woods inside the building.

Body-camera footage later released to the public showed the confrontation from several deputies' perspectives. Reports said Woods pointed a handgun toward deputies before they fired.

The independent investigation involved witness interviews, examination of the firearm and other evidence. The City of Vancouver said more than 50 witnesses and staff members from the American Legion had been interviewed during the investigation.

The case therefore cannot responsibly be reduced to a single dramatic image or a few seconds of video.

It was a sequence.

A sequence that began with a reported vehicle theft and ended inside a building where people had been spending an ordinary Saturday morning.

And that is what makes the footage so difficult to look away from.

Not because it resembles an action movie.

But because it shows how quickly an ordinary place can become the center of a life-changing event.

Watch the Full Video

The video associated with this story is a compilation of police pursuit footage from multiple U.S. incidents. Its published chapter list identifies the Salmon Creek, Washington incident as the opening case before moving into other jurisdictions.

▶️ Watch the full video here: