Suspect wanted in shooting, armed robberies shot dead by police
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VANCOUVER, Wash. – An officer shot and killed a suspect near a club in Vancouver late Friday night, police said.
Officers were looking for two suspects in connection with a shooting and robberies in Hazel Dell, Wash. earlier Friday.
Police spokeswomen Kim Kapp identified the suspect who was shot as 16-year-old Douglas E. Combs. Kapp said Combs was armed at the time of the shooting and is the suspect in three crimes on Jan. 25: A shooting at an apartment complex at 1 a.m., an armed robbery at a 7-Eleven store at 5:30 a.m. and an armed robbery at a Shell gas station at 6:30 p.m.
Officers confronted Combs and the other 16-year-old suspect near Pop Culture, located at East 19th and C Street, at around 11:30 p.m., when Combs ran to a nearby abandoned warehouse and attempted to draw a gun.
An officer Combs. He died at the scene.
Terry Greenen lives near the shooting scene. He told KATU News he heard four shots fired.
"At least two officers, I noticed were giving orders to someone, then four other shots were fired," he said. "The other [suspect] was on the left hand side of the building. He threw down his gun and [they] took him away."
Joey Le Bard, a manager at Pop Culture, said he stamped Combs' hand as he entered the club for a concert. Le Bard was stopped by police as he left the club.
"They said there is someone dangerous at your place and they asked me what time were we going to close and I said around eleven or so, and they were just going to wait him out," said Le Bard.
The Camas Police Department is investigating the shooting.
Vancouver police said the second 16-year-old suspect was also armed.
The Vancouver police officer who shot Combs will be placed on paid administrative leave, which is department policy. The officer's name has not been released.
Law enforcement sources told KATU News that the search for the two suspects started with a shooting at a Hazel Dell apartment complex early Friday morning.
A woman who was in an apartment and did not want to be identified said her boyfriend was cooking when the shooting began. She said she was asleep at the time.
"All I know is, someone came in through my back door, started chasing my boyfriend through the house, shooting at him," she said. "I saw the gunman run after my boyfriend into the bathroom and I ran out of the house and called 9-1-1," she said. "Five minutes later, my boyfriend came to the neighbors and collapsed on the ground and the paramedics came and took him."
A short time later, an armed robbery was reported at a 7-Eleven less than a mile from the scene of the shooting. The description of the suspect was similar to that of the shooting suspect.
No one was hurt in that incident, deputies said.
Vancouver police believe the suspect was also responsible for an armed robbery at a Shell gas station at 7001 NE Fourth Plain Boulevard Friday evening.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
It will be interesting to see if the investigation gets down the real bottom of the story. Nothing so far has been mentioned about the so called "victims" criminal history. One thing I do know is, if there was ever a person that could make you feel so unsafe that it was necessary to have a gun to protect yourself or your family, the "victim" would be he. Further more I think it's sad to see so many people making judgement on this kid without knowing the facts. Of course our media holds a large part of the blame for that. I think with a minumum amount of effort though, that FACTS could be found that could put a whole different light on how you see this kid and possible scenerios that may have caused him to do what he did. It will be interesting to see what the outcome is if it is even publicized. Personally I think the kid was trying to do the world a big favor and it got out of hand. My heart felt sympathy goes out to his family.
 @JubileeÂ
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How would that explain the robbery he apparently committed later on? And by the way, it's ILLEGAL for a 16-year-old to be carrying around a handgun in public. If he was willing to break THAT law (a potential felony, by the way), who knows what other kinds of crimes he might have been doing.
@Whobeke I am not saying that I believe any of what he did is ok. But based on what I know and who i know I believe that people should reserve judgement until all the facts are in. I believe this kid was pushed in to snapping and then it all got out of hand. You know many kids even young adults don't think about whats going to happen tomorrow because of what they did today. The most I can say is people would have a much better understanding and I think not to be so quick to judge if they knew the players involved or at least where it seems to have began.
 @Jubilee  @Whobeke Well, do tell then why we should feel this punk was justified in breaking into someone's home and shooting them. Please tell us why we should feel sorry for him because HE CHOSE to rob two stores with an illegal gun. Please tell us why we should feel sorry for him because HE CHOSE to disobey a police officer and had a illegal gun and died because of HIS choices to disobey the law. The media is not to blame for what this punk did. Those were his choices. If the shooting victim has a criminal history, what does that have to do with anything? Where the heck are his parents? Or maybe they're the example he learned from? No responsible parent is going to allow their kid to wander the streets at that time of night. So please, do tell! I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to know.
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These "Boys" had already committed a home invasion in which they shot a man, and two armed robberies, demonstrating that they were a threat to people. Then they drew on LE. If it were my child or Grand child I would be heart broken. BUT I would understand the Kid bought his own trouble. There are consequences for bad acts. Play Bad Guy Games and you are going to (should) get bit on the butt.
The USA's drugging of little kids GUARANTEES the state will have HOMICIDAL MANIACS to throw in their prison when they become adults.....bringing in BILLION$ & BILLION$ to the Prison Systems...
 @August100 Are you capable of writing anything without yelling?
Maybe you should get back on your meds..Â
 @StealthActivist  @August100 It's not really the yelling.August is, in fact, is the type of example that causes NRA types to recognize the truth that SOME people should not be around firearms or other dangerous objects.
He is 16? If he was shot for typical teenager crimes, such as joyriding or shoplifting, then that would be a tragedy.
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But when you start using a gun to rob and terrorize people, or draw a weapon on a police officer, those are adult crimes. And when you play at the varsity level, the risks and penalties go up considerably. Sorry, son, but that is the way the universe works.
The perp was only 16 years old! Â Right wrong or indifferent how can you celebrate the death of a sixteen year old! Â I've read many of your comments and I don't see how you separate yourself from the perp. Â Your comments as far as I'm concerned put you in the same class as all the criminals. Â Shame on you, you disgust me!Â
 @lectrician And 16 is old enough to know that what he was doing is wrong, by any measure.
He made the decision to carry a gun, use it, and attempted to use it against law enforcement.
He chose his own end.
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No one is celebrating, but one less gun-toting criminal is certainly one less thing to worry about for law-abiding citizens.
 @lectrician No sympathy from me with regards to an attempted murderer, burglar, thief, assaulter, wanna be cop killer getting a swift ticket to the Eternal Celestial Dirtnap.
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 @Fed up Fed You say 16-year old kid, I say 16-year old attempted murderer, assaulter with a deadly weapon, burglar and thief. It puts things a little more into perspective.
 @leapfrogger  @Fed up Fed  @Unknown While I'm not saying this kid was or was not a foster kid, I've seen countless times where the "adults" in these foster kids lives have made false promises and "guarantees" only to let them down time and time again.  It breaks my heart to hear them say that they might as well grow up and be like their parents because that's what society expects of them!  By the time they start seriously thinking this way it tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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I get tired of apologizing to the kids I take care of. Â I don't know how many foster parents, social workers, judges, etc. I've argued with on behalf of these kids! Â I've told them time and time again to NOT make promises they can't keep.
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After parents have been removed from the situation, these kids, as wards of the State do, technically, become the responsibility of society. Â The area this kid lived in has a higher than normal concentration of foster kids (and ran off the only boys group home in Clark County -- so, apparently, Clark County doesn't want teen boys even if they are originally from this community). Â Could be he fell in with them if he wasn't one himself.
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Tell me how a kid in this situation (transferred from home to home often with less than a day's notice and having rules change each and every time) is supposed to grow up and learn how to be a productive member of society? Â S/he can't! Â Plain and simple. Â The stress on these kids lives, its actually a miracle any of them manage to make it to adulthood! Â They never asked to be put in this situation. Â Ever.
 @Fed up Fed  @Unknown How society could have done better by a teenager that fails? Not my responsibility to raise another person's spawn. Perhaps you should find out why this kids parents failed him. How many humans go through their teenage years without shooting someone, robbing stores with an illegal gun and disobeying police orders? Probably quite a few. The only people to blame here is the punk kid and his parents (or lack thereof.)Â
 @Fed up Fed  @'CouvGuy  @Playanekes  @Unknown ...so, when you make personal attacks, it's witty and clever.  When anyone else does it, it's an ad hominem attack...perhaps the sign of a weak mind.  Got it. Â
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For the record, I don't see any of my posts celebrating this horror. Â Quite the contrary, actually.
 @Fed up Fed  @'CouvGuy  @Playanekes  @Unknown You're a strange one FUF.  Your attacks are personal, snarkey, and biased.  I'll give you this, you're very clever and pick your facts and statistics elegantly.  You are a binary thinker....you're right, everyone else is a simpleton and beneath your dignity.  What never ceases to surprise me is your absolute disdain and hatred of the common man.  Tells much, I believe.
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Oh, and "....thanks for playing....".
 @Fed up Fed  @Playanekes  @'CouvGuy  @Unknown Which of my posts in this thread do you consider constitutes an 'ad hominem' attack on you...?? Â
 @Fed up Fed  @'CouvGuy  @Unknown That's kinda weird. You're accusing him of an ad hom attack in an ad hom attack.That's like a California senator saying that semiautomatic weapons are only used to commit mass murder an then making an exemption in the law so she can carry one.Â
 @Fed up Fed Thank you for articulating much better what I was trying to say!
@Fed up Fed
Various calibers in drywall testing:Â http://how-i-did-it.org/drywall/results.html
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You're the one telling people (in the same thread) to use pistols instead of .223/5.56 (which the FBI/SWAT/etc are switching to due to overpenetration of MP5 9x19 rounds) because a "miss in your home is going to be a threat to the folks in the next house over." I also said that the .223 wouldn't sail through your house and several others.You proceeded to claim that I stated it wouldn't penetrate sheet rock, which is false. Yes, .223 goes through initial barriers with ease, but after that first barrier, it loses energy and lethality quickly, due to fragmentation and yaw (throwing it off trajectory)
Ok, Fed up Fed, thanks for the lengthy exposition to which I only have a one word response: whatever! Have a great day!
Fed, I would never "assume", but I might observe, consider and make a rational deduction! And, education or lack thereof has nothing to do with it!
 @jpk Fed up Fed is having Alzheimer's moments galore today! He would probably apologize to the robber and say, "It's my fault you're holding me up!"
 @Fed up Fed uh no, I didn't say .223 is safe when it passes through drywall. I said it is less likely to overpenetrate than almost any other caliber.
Binary thinking? Is that some new form of excusing everything that you can't understand? Wait till you are victimized by an armed robber, you might change your screwy thinking.
 @Fed up Fed  @'CouvGuy  @Unknown  @CTWU I have to agree....seeing a young kid like this die as he did is a tragedy, plain and simple.  I'm glad the officer got to go home to his family.
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By the same token, people are indeed responsible for their own choices, their own actions. Â In unfortunately too many cases, Â there seems to be less that parents can do as kids get older. Â Once the wrong path is chosen, too many young people are lost. Â
 @Fed up Fed Fed, both CouvGuy and I OWN you in any topic. You worship us.
 @Fed up Fed Uh no. None of his actions are in any way my fault. Nice try though. Go back to community organizing and trying to guilt trip people. Apparently his older brother posted in this thread (a little below). Perhaps you could ask him why he and mom & dad failed.
 @Fed up Fed  @Unknown For you to call someone else out as a "binary thinker" gave me a solid chuckle this morning.  Thanks for playing....!!
 @Fed up Fed  @Unknown  @CTWU Except most teen aged kids don't commit multiple armed crimes before being subdued.  You are correct - he didn't make responsible decisions.  Frankly I'm glad it was him and not someone else.
 @Fed up Fed Yet, somehow this weekend, millions of American teens didn't attempt murder and shooting of cops.
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STRIKE THREE! YOU'RE OUT!
 @CTWU "I find it implausible to argue FOR capital punishment but against abortion. After all, isn't a life an actual life?"One life made conscious choices. The other has not.
 @Unknown  @Fed up Fed When you stop feeling, you stop living.
 @Fed up Fed  @Unknown Similarly, I love how they try to categorize everything as "liberal" or fascist. I find many of the divisive issues no longer belong selectively to the restriction of "party" guidelines.
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While I may be quite a left-leaning liberal (real left), I acknowledge that there is a time and a place for compromise or else there will only be resentment and hostility and no action (seems familiar, huh?).
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Gun control, abortion, capital punishment, these are all issues that are no longer directly supported by either party agenda. At best they are merely suggestions of opinion not statement of fact.
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I support the Constitution. Because of that I support both the 1st and 2nd Amendments. I find it implausible to argue FOR capital punishment but against abortion. After all, isn't a life an actual life? And, strange as it may seem, to some people even the perpetrator of a crime has family and friends.
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And, Fed, you are absolutely correct. I really doubt that those Officers most directly involved in this case went home High-5'ing each other. While I'm sure they had more information that the public did in this case, especially considering this was only a 16 year old, if the officers involved were out holding a celebration party, I would question their worthiness to the force and to the community.
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To those of you arguing left or right -- I support your efforts of free speech but am really getting tired of that being your sole point of an argument -- especially for a new story such as this and because we still don't know all of the facts. Its getting rather old and boring.
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To the friends and family of Doug Combs, I am sorry for the loss you feel -- especially if you were involved in his life and trying to help get him out of the hole he put himself into; to those actively participating in his dangerous lifestyle, may his death serve as a warning and a lesson that crime always has a punishment.
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To the officers involved in Mr. Combs death, I am sorry he put you into a situation where you felt you had no other choice. I'm sure you would have much rather helped to reform this kid than to take his life. He made the choice for you and now you, not he, must live with the consequences.
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To my community -- may you move forward with love, grace and understanding.
 @Fed up Fed Well, that's because you're a feeler, not a thinker. You FEEL that this rodent could have turned out better. However, the scumbag chose to made poor decisions. He got himself killed due to his stupidity.
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When you apply binary logic to a lot of history, you realize that there are a lot of people better off dead early in life. Case in point, repeat violent offenders whom have committed rapes, murders and robberies.
Sorry Fed, put simply, there are some human beings who are beyond redemption.
 @lectrician 'I don't see how you separate yourself from the perp.'
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Well, uh, I dunno, maybe s/he doesn't go around committing armed robberies of strangers... ya know, 'just for starters'. Â And, speaking from personal experience.. having been robbed at gunpoint, I will claim some 'moral high ground' here and betting you haven't been - so my opinion is a tad more pertinent than yours. Â 'If you're willing to commit the crime, you'd better be prepared to do the time' -- or, suffer the consequences. Â Karma is a biatch.
 @lectrician The USA loves all of it's MAYHEM & MURDER; it's BIG BUSINESS!
 @lectrician  I've read through these posts and I see no one celebrating the death of this person. What people are happy about is justice being served by the removal of a dangerous predator from our streets.
@HenryBowman @lectrician What makes you so sure he wasn't trying to remove a threat way worse than himself? In the mind of a kid how would you respond to threats from a preditor especially when you know the cops aren't going to protect you?Â
 @Jubilee Oh, please.
He robbed 2 convenience stores, and committed a home invasion and shot someone. He carried a gun into a concert, and on his way out saw the cops and thought he would play movie gangsta.Those convenience stores mush have been terrible threats to him.
You should really get back on your meds.
So if he were 2 years older you would be okay with the prior statements? That's dumb, he chose his path.
The perp's name is Douglas E. Combs
http://www.kptv.com/story/20712903/officer-fatally-shoots-robbery-suspect
i bet everyone story will be different if it was there kid!
 @Charly Jose Combs  As a father and grandfather, I can certainly empathize with what you are going through with the loss of your son. My condolences to you and your family.
2 words.. "Justice Served.........."
Nice to hear about cops doing things right for a change. Instead of endangering people in the club, they waited for the perps to come out. Then they did what was necessary to take them down. Good work, Vancouver Police!
I needed something to cheer my up today.
 @RalphCramden You need to get a life if the death of a sixteen year old cheers you up!
 @lectrician  @RalphCramdenÂ
* Kip Kinkel was 15 when he killed his parents and went and shot up the school.
* There are many 'child soldiers' in the employ of rebel groups in various parts of Africa today as we speak -- they are killing and getting killed themselves.
* In WWII, in Germany, boys down to about age 13 were conscripted into military service and performed nearly all the functions of their adult counterparts.
* Many American boys lied on applications about their age to enlist in the services. They were as young as 16 and 15 years old.
(etc).
While many of us in the larger humanity see the tragic situation for what it is, just the same, if you're old enough to take a life you are old enough to sacrifice your own.
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 @lectricianÂ
What does age matter? This was a POS who shot at innocent people and robbed businesses at gun point.
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The liberal antigun idiots want to restrict guns to innocent law abiding citizens but will whine and complain when one of the violent shooters is shot dead in a confrontation with police.
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These so called kids are the problem. They are violent and have no respect for others and only think of themselves.
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I, for one, will sleep just fine and thankful that another violent criminal is off the streets and in this case has been removed from the planet. Hopefully he didn't breed before he was removed from the gene pool.
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In reality we need more of this. Maybe these violent folks will get the picture. It is peer pressure on steroids and it does work. Notice that his violent accomplice threw down his gun once his buddy was shot and killed.