Centralia police officer shoots, kills burglary suspect after responding to reports of armed man



CENTRALIA, Wash. -- A Centralia police officer shot and killed a burglary suspect early this morning, according to a news release from the police department.

Police said officers responded just before 5 a.m. Tuesday to a reports of a burglary in progress on Logan Street. Officers were told the man was armed.

When they arrived, they found a man matching the suspect's description armed with a knife.

He allegedly continued to approach police after they told him to stop. That's when one of the responding officers shot him.

The burglary suspect, 18-year-old Josh Flores of Centralia, was taken to a local hospital, where he later died.

No one else was injured, and the officer who shot Flores is on paid administrative leave while an outside agency investigates, per department policy. The officer has been in law enforcement since 2009 and with the Centralia Police Department since 2012.