Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office

Adult Criminal & Administrative Divisions • 614 Division Street, MS-35 • Port Orchard, Washington 98366-4681 • (360) 337-7174 • FAX (360) 337-4949

Juvenile Criminal Division • 614 Division Street, MS-35 • Port Orchard, Washington 98366-4681 • (360) 337-5500 • FAX (360) 337-4949

Special Assault Unit • 614 Division Street, MS-35 • Port Orchard, Washington 98366-4681 • (360) 337-7148 • FAX (360) 337-4949

Bainbridge Island Municipal Court Division • 614 Division Street, MS-35 • Port Orchard, Washington 98366 • (360) 337-7174 • FAX (360) 337-4949

Port Orchard Municipal Court Division • 614 Division Street, MS-35 • Port Orchard, Washington 98366-4681 • (360) 337-7174 • FAX (360) 337-4949

Poulsbo Municipal Court Division • 614 Division Street, MS-35 • Port Orchard, Washington 98366-4681 • (360) 337-7174 • FAX (360) 337-4949

Civil Division • 614 Division Street, MS-35A • Port Orchard, Washington 98366-4681 • (360) 337-4992 • FAX (360) 337-7083

Child Support Division • 614 Division Street, MS-35B • Port Orchard, Washington 98366-4681 • (360) 337-7020 • FAX (360) 337-5733

Russell D. Hauge

Prosecuting Attorney

Carol I. Maves Office Administrator

Ione S. George

Case Management

Division Chief

Timothy A. Drury

Felony and Juvenile

Division Chief

Claire A. Bradley District/Municipal

Division Chief

Jacquelyn M.

Aufderheide

Civil/Child Support

Division Chief

www.kitsapgov.com/pros

Memorandum

TO: Port Gamble Public Safety Department, Suquamish Police Department,

Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, Kitsap Sun, Kitsap Newspaper Group

FROM: Russell D. Hauge, Prosecuting Attorney

REPLY TO: Adult Criminal & Administrative Divisions

CC: Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Council

DATE: February 3, 2012

RE: Decline Discussion, Dec. 8, 2011 Officer-Involved Shooting

At approximately ten minutes to three on the afternoon of December 8, 2011, Officers

of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Police Department, the Suquamish Tribal Police

Department, and the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office gathered outside the residence at

18636 Second Ave. NE in Suquamish, Washington. They were there to arrest Stacy

Callihoo, a forty-two-year-old male with a long history of serious and violent

criminal offenses. The officers had a warrant for his arrest and solid information that

he was inside the residence. Four officers entered the residence and noted a male

subject sitting on a couch or bed across the room. This subject had his hands partially

obscured by blankets and pillows. The officers ordered him to show his hands—

repeatedly. The officers were clearly identified as law enforcement personnel and

made reasonable and clear demands consistent with protecting themselves and any

other occupants of the residence. The subject made eye contact with the officers but

did not comply. Instead, keeping his hands down in front of him and out of sight, he

made a sudden, furtive gesture, consistent with reaching for a weapon. Reasonably

fearing for his safety, the officer in the lead position, Det. Greg Graves of the Port

Gamble S’Klallam Police Department, fired his service weapon at the subject. The

subject was struck twice and died as a result of his wounds. Under Washington law,

this shooting by Det. Graves was a justified use of deadly force.

This conclusion rests on the investigation conducted by the Kitsap County Sheriff’s

Office. One of the pieces of evidence collected and analyzed in that investigation

was a video tape of the officers’ contact with the deceased. A Suquamish officer was

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wearing “vest cam,” a small portable video and sound recorder attached to the front

of her uniform. The tape covers the transaction from initial confrontation to shooting.

The warrant for Callihoo's arrest was issued on November 30, 2011, by the Port

Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Court. Callihoo had violated probation conditions imposed

after his conviction for Indecent Liberties and Assault. Callihoo is a Native American

and subject to the jurisdiction of that court. He is also well known to the Suquamish

tribal justice system and the courts of the State of Washington. His criminal record

includes arrests and convictions for violent, drug and property crimes going back to

1987. He is considered dangerous, presenting a high likelihood of resisting arrest.

The information that Callihoo was at the Suquamish address was developed by the

Suquamish Police Department. Reliable informants had identified the house as a

center for illegal drug trafficking. Callihoo was known to have a relationship with

one of the residents of the house, Shari Black. The Suquamish Police received

information from a trusted source that Callihoo and others were at the residence on

the afternoon of December 8, 2011.

Knowing that he was subject to a Port Gamble S’Klallam arrest warrant, the

Suquamish P.D. notified the Port Gamble Police Department of Callihoo’s presence

on the Suquamish reservation. Officer Michael Hultberg and Det. Graves of Port

Gamble were detailed to respond. They reported to the Suquamish Police

Department offices early in the afternoon on Dec. 8, 2011. There they met with

Suquamish Police Department Officers and two Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputies to

develop a plan to arrest Callihoo. The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Deputies were on duty

and assigned to patrol the northern part of the County. It is the standard practice of

all three law enforcement agencies to provide direct, mutual support when dealing

with a potentially violent offender like Callihoo.

Callihoo’s violent criminal history heavily influenced the plan that was made for his

arrest. He had convictions for, among other offenses, Robbery in the First Degree,

Assault, Attempting to Elude Pursuing Police, Obstructing Law Enforcement, and

Resisting Arrest. All of the police officers involved in this incident were graduates of

the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission Academy. This training

dictates that extreme caution should be used when apprehending a fugitive with a

history of violent crimes and resisting arrest. It was determined that three officers

would approach the residence: Det. Graves of Port Gamble, Sgt. Swift Sanchez of the

Suquamish Police Department, and Det. Gary Drake of the Suquamish P.D. Kitsap

County Sheriff’s Deputies Michael Grant and David Fortenbacher would stand by

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near the entrance. Other units of the Suquamish Police Department and the Port

Gamble Police would secure the perimeter of the house and grounds.

At approximately ten minutes to three on the afternoon of Dec. 8, Det. Graves, Sgt.

Sanchez, and Det. Drake approached the entrance. The critical events of this

transaction—the initial contact with the occupants of the dwelling through the

officers’ retreat from the house after shots were fired—were captured on the personal

video camera worn by Sgt. Sanchez. The visual recording is spotty. Sgt. Sanchez

had the camera attached to her uniform and was not in a position to choose the images

and frame the action. Moreover, the light in the interior of the dwelling was very

dim. The audio portion of the recording is clearer. Most importantly, the recording

captures the action in real time. We have prepared a table showing the order of the

critical events and the intervals between them. That table is attached as an appendix

at the end of this document.

The three members of the entry team stepped up onto the porch, knocked on the front

door, identified themselves, and asked the occupants to come out. The front entrance

consisted of a glass sliding door screened on the inside by a blanket hung like a

curtain. All three officers were wearing clothing that clearly identified them as law

enforcement. Shari Black, the regular resident of the dwelling, answered the door.

At the officers’ request, she exited the house, closing the sliding door behind her.

She was escorted away from the porch/entryway of the dwelling.

Her small dog followed her outside. She asked if her dog could be let back in the

house. Det. Graves opened the door and pulled back the window covering so the dog

could reenter. When the sliding door opened, Det. Graves noted another person, a

large male, seated on a bed or couch on the other side of the room just beyond the

door. And the officers had good reason to believe that the fugitive Callihoo was still

inside.

The officers made repeated demands for the remaining occupants of the house to

come out but received no response. They prepared to enter the residence. Because of

Callihoo’s violent history, all drew weapons. Detective Graves, in the lead, drew his

pistol. The next two officers in line, Sgt. Sanchez and Detective Drake of Suquamish,

had their tasers out. They opened the door, pointed their weapons at the subject on

the couch across the room, identified themselves, and demanded—forcefully—that he

raise his hands.

The subject, later identified as Thomas Black, a forty-four-year-old white male, was

approximately five yards from the officers as they entered the dwelling. It was light

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outside, and at least one lamp was on in the room. All the entering officers were

clearly identified as police by their clothing and badges, and they had announced their

identity from the very first contact. He did not comply with their demands. Black

remained seated, his left hand hidden by blankets and pillows, his right hand down at

his side.

Over the next ten seconds, the officers demanded that he raise or show his hands at

least eight times. Sensing danger from the rising volume and frequency of the

demands that the subject show his hands, KCSO Deputy Grant also entered the

dwelling with his taser in his hand. At this point, the video tape shows three red laser

dots on the body of the subject. These were the sighting lasers from the tasers

deployed by Sgt. Sanchez, Det. Drake, and Deputy Grant.

If Black had at that time raised both of his hands, he would have allayed the growing

and reasonable fears of the officers. They were in a dark room in a house associated

with drug dealing. They knew that a dangerous fugitive was somewhere inside.

Their training and experience demanded that they assure themselves that the person

before them presented no threat. But this person, aware of—but ignoring—their

status as police officers, was giving clear signals that he was not going to respond

rationally to the situation. It was quite possible that he had a firearm concealed under

the blankets and pillows. If he was given the opportunity to use a concealed pistol,

any of the officers could be injured or killed.

The subject made the worst choice possible under the circumstances. He turned

quickly away from the officers, reaching with his right hand for something under the

blankets and pillows to his left, and immediately turned back to face them. Det.

Graves fired his pistol.

The officers quickly exited the house. They established containment of the dwelling

and made no other attempts to enter until the arrival of the County SWAT team.

While waiting for the SWAT team to assemble, the officers on scene noted movement

inside the house and continued to call on the people inside to come out peaceably.

They received no response. The SWAT team entered the house approximately two

hours later and took Callihoo into custody. Black’s body was found on the floor just

in front of where he had been sitting. He was dead.

Det. Graves fired five times. Two of his bullets struck the subject: one entered the

left front of his upper chest; the other grazed his right thigh before striking him in the

front of his lower abdomen. The pathologist determined the cause of death to be

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gunshot wounds with acute methamphetamine intoxication as a contributing factor:

Black’s blood level at the time of his death was 0.44 milligrams of meth per liter.

The dwelling was searched after Callihoo’s arrest. The police found marijuana,

methamphetamine, heroin, and evidence of drug dealing but no guns. Immediately

after the shooting, Sgt. Sanchez reported that she saw Black point a silver-colored

semi-automatic pistol at them and fire at least three shots. Det. Graves reported

seeing a revolver in the subject’s hand when he turned back after reaching under the

blankets. The search of the area around where Black had been sitting turned up

several silver-colored TV remote controls. The searching officers also found a black

revolver. It was a plastic toy. Full-sized, it was originally orange in color but had

been painted black in an apparent attempt to make it look like a real gun. Whatever

he might have been thinking, there is no evidence that Black had access to any kind

of firearm.

Sgt. Sanchez was obviously mistaken. And if the subject had a revolver in his hand

before Det. Graves shot, it was a black-painted toy. However, these facts are not

relevant to the decision we face here. Det. Graves and the other officers who

confronted Black had every reason to suspect that he posed a threat of serious

physical harm. In a situation where the only reasonable course of action would have

been to follow the directions of the officers, Black acted in a furtive, threatening

manner. The officers had no way to know what action he might take to protect the

drug business they knew was being conducted in the house or how far he would go to

defend Callihoo. The only test of his intent would have been to wait for him to finish

retrieving whatever it was he had concealed under the blankets and pillows on his lap.

However, if that object had been a firearm, one or more of the officers would

probably have been wounded or killed. Police officers do not carry that heavy a

burden.

Washington law provides that to justify the use of deadly force a “peace officer must

have probable cause to believe that the suspect…poses a threat of serious physical

harm to the officer or a threat of serious physical harm to others….” RCW 9A.16.040

(2). The law also states that “A public officer or peace officer shall not be held

criminally liable for using deadly force without malice and with a good faith belief

that such act is justifiable pursuant to this section [of the law].” RCW 9A.16.040 (3).

Acting without malice and in good faith, Det. Graves took the only reasonable course

that Mr. Black left him. He used the force necessary to avoid the harm he had

probable cause to believe was imminent. His actions give us no reason to consider

criminal charges.

February 3, 2012

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Timeline: Officer Involved Shooting at 18636 Second Ave. NE, Suquamish, WA;

December 8, 2011. Contact begins at approximately 2:50 P.M.

Elapsed Time Action

0:00:00 Officers Arrive. Det. Graves, Sgt. Sanchez, and Det. Drake

approach front door and announce their presence.

0:00:02 S. Black, primary resident, appears in response to Officers

knock on the door.

0:00:26 S. Black exits at request of Officers.

0:00:41

At request of S. Black, Det. Graves opens front door to allow

small dog to enter. He sees a male subject sitting on a bed or

couch across the room.

0:00:45 Officers hear others in the residence; they decide to enter to

make the arrest of Callihoo.

0:00:51

The Officers cross the threshold of the dwelling. Subject on

couch across the room makes eye contact. He is less than five

yards away.

0:00:56 Officers make verbal contact with subject on bed/couch. He is

looking at them and has his hands in his lap.

0:00:57-0:01:07

Over the next ten seconds, all three officers repeatedly call out

to the subject to show them both of his hands. He is looking

directly at them while they make their commands. Hearing no

response to the commands and sensing that the danger is

escalating, KCSO Deputy Grant, standing by outside, decides to

enter and assist.

0:01:08

The subject, after ignoring repeated and clear commands to stay

still and show his hands, makes a quick, furtive movement away

from the officers, apparently digging his right hand under a

blanket on his lap, and starts to turn back toward the officers.

Fearing that the subject has reached for a weapon, Det. Graves

fires his pistol.