Man killed in Vancouver shooting tried to break into suspect's car, attorney says
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VANCOUVER, Wash. – An attorney representing a Vancouver murder suspect involved in a shooting early Tuesday morning said Sean H. Doucette, 27, saw a man breaking into his car and confronted him in the street.
In a court appearance Wednesday morning, Doucette's attorney said his client got into a physical confrontation with the man, took out his gun, and shot him four times.
Friends and family told KATU News the person who was shot and killed was 19-year-old Iosif Dumitrash.
The prosecution argued that Dumitrash was trying to get away, and that deadly force was not justifiable.
Doucette's bail was reduced from $500,000 to $250,000.
At first police said it was a homeowner who shot a prowler near 150th Avenue and Northeast 33rd Street at 4 a.m., but by Tuesday afternoon, that homeowner, identified as Doucette, was taken to the Clark County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder.
A law enforcement source told KATU News that two 911 calls were made inside the home of Doucette and the person who called about the prowler was his wife.
They said he was hanging out in a house with friends nearby, and that he left to "cool off." That's the last time they saw him.
When police showed up around the corner, friends and family waited and were worried it was the young man they called honest and trustworthy.
Folks around the neighborhood were still shaken Tuesday night and many said Doucette and his wife kept to themselves.
Sonny Khan, who lives a couple doors down from Doucette, said he was taking a shower when he heard about four gunshots.
Just before the bullets started flying, he said he heard a car alarm.
Doucette worked as an armed security guard at First Response Inc., according to the company's president, Dave Foglio, who said Doucette had a clean record and was a good employee of at least four years.
Foglio said Doucette is licensed in Oregon to be an armed officer, has his own weapon and carries it home.
KATU News tried to contact Doucette's wife and relatives but didn't hear back Tuesday.
This story will be updated with more information as we learn it.
Why in the world would u kill any one if they where by your car and then shoot them when the where walking away
 @Denis Dumitrash I do not have an answer for you on this sir, but from what has surfaced so far, it is neither clear that he was walking away, nor that he was simply standing by a car.  It appears that Mr. Dumitrash fought with Mr. Doucette and at some point Mr. Doucette shot him in the chest.  That is all I know at this point.  We will see what comes up as far as evidence when they complete their investigation. Â
Oh please let the guy go! he was protecting his property! Does he have any rights?  Â
WOW , just went to the Columbian news site....He doesn't look like a Marine...maybe an ex-marine....
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Ya , ya, no such thing as an ex...(maybe in this case)....but...musta let himself go on twinkies and cupcakes ?
@sargerator I agree with u
From the Columbian:
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"Doucette arrived home from his job as a security guard, heard a car alarm and saw what he thought was a prowler, Thayer said. Doucette attempted to detain the man, and the man attacked him, Thayer said. The shooting was in self-defense, Thayer said. The incident occurred outside Doucette's home, 14802 N.E. 33rd St.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Camara Banfield said a witness told investigators that the alleged prowler was attempting to leave the area when Doucette shot him four times and killed him."
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Doesn't look good for Doucette. He arrived home, his car alarm went off, he saw someone outside, and tried to detain him. The one acting in self defense could well have been Dumitrash. A gun does not make you a LEO.
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 @Max Quinn Under Oregon law, Doucette did have legal grounds for attempting a citizen's arrest: http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/133.225
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Shooting the suspect four times in the back as he's walking away is unlikely to stand as "reasonable force" necessary to effect the arrest or protect another person's life.
 @Max Quinn Here's the relevant part about deadly force: http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/161.255
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If the forensics backs up the alleged eyewitness, Doucette is done. Â Although a jury trial is always unpredictable.
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 @Fed up Fed  @Max Quinn I read that also....seems it wasn't a vehicle that belonged to him in the first place.
 @PD1202  @Fed up Fed  @Max Quinn Looks like a bad day for "vigilante justice"...
 @Fed up Fed You have to wonder when the gun came out. If, according to Doucette, Dumitrash attacked him, it seems unlikely that the gun was drawn at the time.Â
 @Max Quinn  @Fed up Fed I thought the EXACT same thing!
it could be that Doucette was in fear of his live if the guy told him he was going to get is friends and guns and come back and kill him. that might be why Doucette shot at him while he was fleeing. only Doucette knows what was said during the fight on the ground.
 @32jim2 That's a pretty weak argument.
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 @negativerep
they have been forced to grasp at straws.
@32jim2 Or maybe the kid said he was going to get his bazooka or tank and come back and....sheeesh....really...REALLY ?
If you don't want to be shot, don't mess around someone's property at 4:00AM in the morning!
It is hard to believe that the teens were just watching movies at 4:00AM!
@Freedom1267 well they were and still u don't kill someone for walking in your property!!!
 @Freedom1267 You don't get out much, do you?  No kids at home?  For crying out loud, I've got decades on this kid and I get up and go outside sometimes at 4am.  I also turn on the TV at that hour, sometimes movies are on.  What planet do you live on?  Up until a few years ago, the ONLY time I saw 4am was when I was still up. Â
If you're seeing 4am now when you're no longer up, you may want to seek help!
@Freedom1267 You secretly want to go to prison and have buba for a roommate don't you ?
 @Freedom1267 Before kids I was up at 4 AM every weekend.......I wasn't wandering around but I was up, sometimes later than that.
A fine upstanding Russian kid. NOT
 @TimBurr that was my friend...
@TimBurrÂ
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 Hurray for timmy, he just won the "biggest bigot tool" award !
 @TimBurr Provide proof that he wasn't, otherwise what you say is made-up fluff.
Honest and trustworthy people do not break into cars, so he's certainly not an "innocent victim". That said, if he really was trying to walk away, the law is pretty clear that you cannot shoot him.Â
 @Ifishsum "Honest and trustworthy people" don't kill someone for *possibly* setting off a car alarm either.  So far I haven't heard where charges against the shooter have been dropped or even lowered.  There's obviously evidence we are unaware of.
 @Sundowner Â
like bullet holes in the back?
 @ormom  @Sundowner And bullet casings in the street.
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 @Fed up Fed  @Ifishsum i just wanted to thank you for defending my friend Iosif from these monsters who have no idea who he was. The only thing he was guilty of was walking around a neighborhood at 4 am because a girl he liked was hugging somebody else and he took a walk to calm down and never came back.Â
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I don't know about anyone else, but I've owned two cars with car alarms. Â Darn things go off when the car gets bumped......just sayin'.
 @Sundowner I lived downtown and those 3 AM car alarms would drive me absolutely crazy, I would have visions of throwing something from my 7 story balcony...usually it was a truck going by that would set them off.
honest and trustworthy, drunk and breaking into someones car at 4:am.Â
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 @gunnutz this is a pretty terrible way to lose a friend and I wanted to thank you for posting something that at least doesn't make Iosif look any worse to the world. He was only 19 and a great person and whatever caused Doucette to think he had the right to shoot and kill him is beyond me.
 @gunnutz I think he is too...after a possible physical confrontation the shooter was probably very angry, that could very well cloud someones judgement.
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it was the dead man who went outside to cool off from the reports. Not the shooter.
 @meeranda I thought it was the dead man who went outside to cool off?  And it might (I repeat, *might*) have been the literal meaning of "cool off".  I've been in friend's houses where I've been burning up and they're all nice and comfy/warm.  We just don't know at this point.
 @Sundowner I removed my comment because @gunnutz and yourself are right. I confused the two men.
Okay, here's the deal, bad decision! WA law does not require a person to retreat, it is not a stand your ground, but it's pretty close. However, you can not use deadly force to protect property, nor can you shoot at someone fleeing (since they are no longer a threat).
Gun owners need to know the laws in their state. If the guy had lunged at him, then the shooting is justified, even if it wasn't inside his home. All it needs to be is a threat, in a situation that a reasonable person can understand your actions.
If the guy said "He was breaking into my car and when I caught him, he came at me with something in his hand" that would be a reasonable reaction to shoot.
Hmmm...now that more information is released, it's pretty much as one would expect from the defense..meaning this was a justifiable self defense homicide. But there are immediate problems with that. I've seen news reports where at least one witness, who was sleeping on a friend's couch in anticipation of getting up soon to go fishing, said he hear a car alarm, then someone yelling at someone to "Stop! Stop!" and then gunfire. Now the defense will turn that around, knowing there are no eye witnesses, but only ear witnesses, and they'll claim the deceased was attacking the "homeowner/confronter" and he was yelling "Stop! Stop!" meaning he was telling the alleged car prowler to stop attacking him, then he fired in self defense. The problem is, if the bullet wounds are all in the deceased's back..that story won't fly. Probable outcome? Doucette is going to plea down to a lesser charge, so the prosecution gets a conviction, and they don't risk losing a more severe sentence conviction, to a jury who might have enough sympathetic members to acquit on the more serious charge.
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I know who has a solution, Tre Arrow; he'd know what to do....
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 @Fed up FedÂ
Don't worry. I notice plenty of the usual suspects are conspicuously absent from all threads on this topic.
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 @Fed up Fed  @ormom Yeah from information available I'd say its not looking good for the shooter. Especially if they guy did walk away.. and then got shot in back 4 times.... :-/
@Fed up Fed A twilight zone episode ??
 @Fed up Fed That's "responsible gun owners" admitting the guy might have made a mistake in pulling the trigger....it is kind of weird.
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 @Dr. RawdogÂ
more like hot-blooded, I think.
There's no reason ever to kill a guy just for trying to break into your car. Â Sorry Ducette, you made a really bad decision and I, for one, will not attempt to defend your actions. Â Good luck.