Special Investigations Unit Probes Fatal Yakima Shooting

The Yakima County Coroners Office has identified the man shot near a Yakima hotel on Saturday as 30-year-old Robert Brewer Heaverlo, from East Valley.

TWO SEPARATE INVESTIGATIONS ARE UNDERWAY

An investigation continues today conducted by the Yakima Valley Special Investigations Unit. The Yakima Police Department is also conducting an administrative review to make sure the Officer was following department policies and procedures at the time of the shooting.

HOTEL OFFICIALS BECAME CONCERNED AND CALLED POLICE

Police say Heaverlo walked into the Oxford Suites at 1701 East Yakima Avenue at about 4:30 pm Saturday, February 7, carrying a rifle. Hotel officials called Yakima Police after being concerned.  Police responded and found him walking in the area outside the hotel. After contacting Heaverlo a confrontation followed and Heaverlo was shot dead. An autopsy found he died of a single gunshot to the chest.

THE OFFICER WHO FIRED THE FATAL SHOT IDENTIFIED

The Officer who fired the fatal shot has been identified as Officer Brad Althauser who has been with the department for 12-years. A report in the Yakima Herald Republic says Althauser was also involved in a fatal shooting in 2016 during an incident at a home on South 68th Avenue. The Yakima County Prosecutors Office determined the shooting to be justified.

THE CASE WILL SOON BE IN THE HANDS OF PROSECUTOR JOE BRUSIC

The prosecutor's office is now awaiting investigative reports to help make another determination in the latest shooting reported on Saturday, February 7.