Road rage suspect who killed Kittitas County deputy was living in country illegally
March 21, 2019 Updated Thu., March 21, 2019 at 9:24 p.m.
This undated photo released by the Kittitas County Sheriff's Office shows Deputy Ryan Thompson. Thompson, 42, was shot and killed and a police officer was wounded after they exchanged gunfire with a road rage driving suspect Tuesday, March 19, 2019, authorities said Wednesday, March, 20, 2019. The events unfolded Tuesday evening when the two officers tried to stop the suspect's vehicle after authorities received a complaint about the motorist's driving, authorities said. (Associated Press)
The road rage suspect who killed a sheriff’s deputy, wounded a police officer and died in a central Washington state shootout this week was living in the United States illegally, the federal government said Thursday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Juan Manuel Flores Del Toro, 29, was a citizen of Mexico who entered the United States in 2014 at Laredo, Texas, on a temporary agricultural worker visa.
The agency had no record that Flores Del Toro left the U.S. or extended his visa after it expired.
Meanwhile, police said Thursday they were still investigating the suspect’s background and why he led the officers on a chase before the gun battle.
Ellensburg Police Capt. Dan Hansberry said Flores Del Toro lived in Ellensburg, a university city of 20,000 residents east of Seattle, in agriculturally rich central Washington.
Flores Del Toro died in a hospital a short time after the Tuesday-evening gun battle.
Investigators do not know why Flores Del Toro fled, and there were no warrants pending for his arrest, Hansberry said.
Police in the past “had limited contacts with him,” but Hansberry described them as “nothing of real significance” without providing further details.
Officers had tried to stop Flores Del Toro’s vehicle after they received a complaint about the motorist’s driving that authorities have described as a “road-rage type event” without disclosing more details.
Police chased Flores Del Toro’s car, which stopped in a house trailer park near the small town of Kittitas, about 5 miles from Ellensburg. Flores Del Toro got out of the vehicle and used a handgun to exchange gunfire with officers, Hansberry said.
Sheriff’s deputy Ryan Thompson, 42, was killed and Kittitas police officer Benito Chavez, 22, was shot in the leg, suffering a shattered femur. He was hospitalized Thursday in satisfactory condition.
Thompson was married with three children.
Chavez was hired for the three-person Kittitas police department last July, officials said.
It was the first fatal shooting of a law enforcement officer in Kittitas County since 1927, officials said.
Local journalism is essential.
Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are not tax deductible, but are predominately used to help meet the local financial requirements needed to receive national matching-grant funds.
Subscribe now to get breaking news alerts in your email inbox
Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens.
