Cop won't be charged in shooting of 2 in Olympia, but stepbrothers face assault charges



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OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The Thurston County prosecutor announced that charges would not be filed against a police officer who shot two young men he said attacked him with skateboards earlier this year. However, the two young men have each been charged with assault for their actions.

Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney Jon Tunheim announced the decision in a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities said Olympia Police officer Ryan Donald used appropriate force and acted in self-defense when he shot 24-year-old Andre Thompson and his stepbrother, 21-year-old Bryson Chaplin, on May 21. The men suffered serious and critical injuries, but survived.







Last month, Q13 FOX News In-Depth reporter Brandi Kruse first reported that an independent investigation into the case had concluded and that the officer was likely justified in the shooting.

The May 21 shooting has been investigated by a team of detectives from several agencies for the past few months.

Olympia Police Officer Ryan Donald has been on administrative leave since the shooting that injured Bryson Chaplin, 21, and Andre Thompson, 24. Donald encountered the two men after being called in on a report of an attempt to steal beer from a grocery store by two men carrying skateboards.

Thompson and Chaplin were accused of shoplifting beer from a nearby Safeway store, then tossing beer at a store employee who caught them in the act. They were later contacted by Donald, who claimed he shot the men in self-defense after they turned on him with skateboards and acted “very aggressive.”

In documents released by the sheriff’s office last week, Donald reported that one of the men had been threatening him with a skateboard before the shooting.

The shooting led to large, mostly peaceful protests and sparked outrage over perceived police brutality. Some accused the white officer of shooting the two men because they were black. Others argued that the punishment didn’t fit the crime.

Following the shooting, a team of outside investigators was called in to gather facts and present them to prosecutors.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.