Witness describes officer-involved shooting inside crowded legion

By Jeffrey Lindblom

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    VANCOUVER, Washington (KPTV) — The Clark County Sherriff’s Office released body camera footage of a deadly confrontation between deputies and a carjacking suspect inside a crowded legion hall.

The officer-involved shooting happened when 41-year-old Benjamin Woods ran into the building as a bingo game was going on.

In the video, Woods can be seen pointing a gun directly at a deputy before being shot several times.

The man leading bingo that night at the Salmon Creek American Legion, Steve Dykstra, said it was an interruption he never expected.

“We were playing bingo, so no one really knew what was going on,” Dykstra said. “Everyone was paying attention to me because I was calling. All of a sudden, he was there.”

Woods was accused of carjacking someone at gunpoint Saturday morning and stealing a van.

Lyndsey Jones was also arrested, who they believe might be an accomplice. The two are accused of then trying to carjack another person later in the day at a Goodwill across the street from the American Legion. That’s where officers ultimately found the stolen van and Woods.

In the video, Woods can be seen refusing to comply with 24-year CCSO veteran deputy Jim Payne’s demands for him to stay put.

The 41-year-old then ran into the American Legion, where bingo night was underway. A police K-9 unit would follow.

Dykstra, who has been calling bingo at the spot for seven years, said Woods ran into the building’s bathroom and chaos followed. He said he believed the suspect was looking for a way out, but couldn’t find one. Woods can be seen in the video lifting a gun and pointing it at responding deputies.

Deputies shot Woods several times with what Dykstra described as “five or six big shots.”

While no deputies were hurt in the shooting, Woods was shot in the chest several times and was pronounced dead at the American Legion outpost. American Legions are a place known for helping veterans, like Dykstra.

“I’m a vet myself, but I haven’t seen any action,” he said.

Dykstra said he believes he was the only vet in the building at the time and saw action that day he never expected.

When the shots rang out, he said he and others ducked for cover, hid and looked away.

“I didn’t want to burn an image of something into my head that I couldn’t get rid of,” Dykstra said.

He said he is pleased officers were there to respond. He fears that if they weren’t, the situation may have gone differently.

“Harmed my people,” he said. “When I say my people, I mean my bingo players. I’ve been here seven years and they’re like family. I hate the fact that a human being had to get shot, but obviously with what happened he deserved it. Plain and simple.”

Both deputies who shot Woods and the two others that witnessed it have been placed on critical incident leave while an investigation continues per standard protocol.

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