In the first blog post, there is a recent interview with Anthony Davis (March 30, 2019). He recounts what happened that day.
Below is the transcribed interview where Davis is interrupted 16 times during this 22 minute recorded interview.
In the previous post, Eric O'Dell's documentation describes the lengths he supposedly went to in order to get Davis to return and "set the record straight" regarding this recorded interview. Davis recounts in the recent interview that O'Dell repeatedly stopped by his residence and persuaded him to change his testimony.
O'Dell also tried to get Davis alone on multiple occasions. Davis was advised by a local attorney to post a no trespassing sign on the property in order to keep the investigators at bay.
Here is the interview with Davis immediately after the shooting. EO is Eric O'Dell from CCSO and SH is Stuart Hemstock of the VPD.
EO is O’Dell and AD is the eyewitness Anthony Davis;
EO: Okay. Today’s date is May 8, 2005. The time now is 1345 hours. This is Detective Eric O’Dell with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, and we’re sitting in my car at 49thStreet and 40thAvenue. Also present is Detective Stuart Hemstock with the Vancouver City Police, and we’re speaking with Anthony Scott Davis. Anthony, are you aware that this conversation is being recorded here today?
AD: Yes, I am.
EO: And is that with your permission?
AD: Yes, I am. Or, yes, it is.
EO: Any threats or promises been made in order to obtain this statement?
AD: No.
EO: Okay. What’s your current address
AD: 4115 NE 50thStreet, Vancouver, WA 98661
EO: Okay. Anthony, you were a witness to an incident here today. About what time did it happen?
AD: I have no idea. About an hour ago, maybe.
EO: Okay.
AD: Forty-five minutes. I don’t know.
EO: And what were you doing and where were you going?
AD: I had just dropped off a Mother’s Day present for my mom around the corner, and I was going to Oscar’s to buy a pack of cigarettes. And I turned right, and I thought that an officer was trying to squeeze between traffic to pass, and I noticed as they passed me in the intersection, after I pulled over to the side of the road that they were chasing him. They rammed him and spun him around and he drove into a yard.
EO: Who is he and what kind of a vehicle was that?
AD: A guy in a minivan with wood paneling.
EO: Okay. So-
AD: The suspect.
EO: -they’re following a van when you first see them?
AD: Yes
EO: Have their lights on?
AD: Yes.
EO: Were their sirens on?
AD: Yes.
EO: Do they pass the van then?
AD: No. They were going in and out of their lane, like, it looked like he was trying to pass him.
EO: Okay.
AD: But instead he hit him.
EO: Okay. So, you’re in your car and watching. What do you see happen?
AD: The officer rammed him in the inter….the suspect in the intersection, the suspect drove through the yard to my right. I turned around and watched the police block him in and other police coming from other directions. Two officer got out of their cars and ran towards him.
EO: Let me-try not to get too far ahead.
AD: Okay.
EO: Now, you’re on the –
AD: Curb
EO: -northwest corner of the intersection. The van passes you, police pass you. It looks like they’re attempting to ram him or pit him. Does he drive through yards or where does the van go as he passes—
AD: He spun him directly around to where he was facing the stop sign that I just went through, and drove right into the yard.
EO: Okay. The van goes into the yard.
AD: yeah
EO: Does the police car follow?
AD: Yeah. The cop car pulled over there and blocked his way so he couldn’t get back out in between the trees, unless he got maneuvered, obviously, and got in between them, but there’s not-
EO: So, ,he’s in the yard going-
AD: That way.
EO: -back westbound?
AD: Going back toward Oscar’s.
EO: Okay.
AD: And then, the cops blocked him there. And there’s more cops from other directions, so I see no route of escape. Then, two cops run up to him, one with a gun and the other one trying to open the door. And he fell on his butt and jumped back up and he maneuvered himself out of the way—
EO: He being one of the police officers?
AD: huh?
EO: One of the police officers?
AD: Yeah, the police officer fell on his butt-the one that was unarmed-fell on his butt and walked, or jumped out of the way of the car so he wouldn’t get ran over. And-
EO: Okay. So, then, the one’s going to the drivers side door or the passenger side door on the van?
AD: The vehicle got turned around, and then, the other officer walked right up to the passenger window and started firing.
EO: Okay. Let’s go back. They’re going through the yard. He’s headed westbound. Still in the yard or is he back up on the street?
AD: He’s still in the yard.
EO: Still in the yard.
AD: He, like, did a turn-around thing and was trying to come back this way.
EO: Trying to come back-
AD: Because the cop was in front of him, so he was trying to turn around and go the other direction, because he didn’t want to run over the cop.
EO: Okay. And then, he started around this-
AD: And then, the guy’s just standing physically, not in a car or nothing, and he didn’t want to-
EO: And is he going forward or going in reverse?
AD: He was going forward until he seen the cop in front of him.
EO: Okay.
AD: And then, he put it in reverse.
EO: Okay.
AD: As to me, it looked as to not run over somebody.
EO: So, the cop’s standing in front of the van?
AD: He jumped in front of the van, or, like, to the side, away from the door, because it was still moving. And it ended up to where he was right in front of the van, almost. And the guy started backing up immediately.
EO: So, he’s trying to open the driver’s side door?
AD: Yeah.
EO: The van’s still moving?
AD: Yeah.
EO: Okay.
AD: And he slipped on the wet grass and fell right on his butt.
EO: He slipped while trying to open the door?
AD: Yeah.
EO: Okay. And so, it’s going forward or backwards?
AD: Forward.
EO: Okay. After he slips, does he jump back up?
AD: He jumped up and he ended up, like, right there. And then, you could see the guy starting to back up and he went over in front of the car as he was backing up.
EO: Okay.
AD: The cop did. And then, he just paused there-
EO: He was on his butt?
AD: Yeah. He, like paused there for a minute like he was, like, in shock of what he was doing. You know what I mean? He looked, like, in shock.
EO: Okay.
AD: And then, the other cop just started shooting.
EO: As the van’s going backwards
AD: Yeah.
EO: -or forwards?
AD: Or….or- I don’t know if he shot before he got turned around or immediately, but I know the guy was just freaking out trying to get out of the way. He was just trying to-
EO: The guy driving the van is freaking out?
AD: After I seen the guy get out of the way of the other cop, I just watched the driver to see what he was doing, because he’s freaking out trying to get the heck out of here, man. You know what I mean? Like, he looked, like, real confused, like-
EO: well, describe what you mean by freaking out. Is he-
AD: Like driving back and forth trying to figure out, look around, which direction can I go. There’s nowhere to go.
EO: Okay. So, he’s still moving, he’s going forwards, he’s going backwards.
AD: Yea. He doesn’t know where to go.
EO: Is he spinning his tires?
AD: No
EO: Okay.
AD: It wasn’t like, you know, like…like I could get out and drive in that person’s yard like that right now and it wouldn’t be like…like…it was like a person consciously seeing stuff around him and you slow down and you don’t try to go real fast, because you’re going to run into something. You know what I mean?
EO: Okay.
AD: He wasn’t like, being erratic or nothing. He was looking for a direction to go. You know what I mean? Like, whoa where do I go?
EO: Going backwards and forwards?
AD: Yea. I gotta get out of here.
EO: -and no place to go. Okay. Where was the cop on foot that tried to open the door?
AD: On that street over there, like, right off the guys yard. He ended up standing, like, right by the grass in the street there like, you know, like in shock. Like he wasn’t ready to do anything else until he figured out what was going on in his own head. And the other guy just started shooting.
EO: Okay. He’s shooting through the front of the van or the side of the van?
AD: Through the window.
EO: Through the driver’s side window?
AD: I don’t remember if he got one shot off or not through that window. I don’t think he did before he turned around, but-
EO: Because your’ saying that window, and that-
AD: -the majority of the picture in my head of the boom, boom, boom, was right through the passenger window.
EO: Okay. So he’s at the passenger window?
AD: Yea, he got turned around and I remember, as he’s trying to drive away, get away, the cop walking, physically walking with the car as it’s moving, going boom, boom, boom, boom. You know what I mean? Like-
EO: Okay. Where is the officer that tried to open the door? Where is he at?
AD: He jumped up to the street and got….he was out of the way and he was standing there, like, in shock, and then he laid on the ground after that.
EO: Okay. And-
AD: Maybe his butt hurt, maybe it didn’t because he fell pretty hard. But I really, at the moment, thought that he was trying to make a like, I’m sitting right here. Like I was shocked to the….I was kind of offended, like if that was the case, why would he do that when I’m standing right here and I’ve seen it? You know what I mean? Like…like, didn’t you see that somebody saw what happened here? Why would you try to-you know what I mean? And maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he hurt his butt really bad when he fell, because he fell pretty hard, but it didn’t look like that at first to me. You know what I mean?
EO: Okay. Well, at what point in time did he fall?
AD: After the guy started shooting.
EO Okay. So, do you know how many shots were fired?
AD: No. I wasn’t trying to count or anything. I was trying to figure out what was going on, and seeing somebody point a gun at a human being and then just keep pulling the trigger, like…like if somebody was in fear for their own life. You know what I mean?
SH: Well-
AD: They’re bound… how they might just keep shooting if a bear was attacking you, you might just keep shooting hoping that maybe it’s not going to keep coming to you.
SH: Earlier didn’t you – actually, I’m just trying to make sense of my notes. When you walked through it the first time, the guy walks up to the door, tries the door-
AD: As soon as he grabbed the handle, he—
EO: He fell down, and then, was the shooting after he fell down and sprung back up, or was it before he even tried to open the door?
AD: It was like, it was – I can’t describe the amount of time, but it was a period of time of him getting up…because I remember looking at him, going, whoa, that guy’s thinking, like-because I evaluate people’s thoughts when I see them. You know what I mean?
SH: Mm-hm?
AD: and their expressions. And to me, his expression said, whoa, what the heck am I doing? I could be getting run over here. You know what I mean?
SH: Yeah?
AD: That’s what it looked like.
SH: So, he was on his feet—
AD: Yeah, on his feet going-
SH: -looking at the whole thing, and then, the shots started ringing out?
AD: Yeah.
SH: -by the time the shots started shooting?
AD: And then, when it was all done, then he’s on the ground again. You know what I mean? Like, you were just standing there on your feet. What happened now?
SH: Right.
AD: You know what I mean? Why did you decide to just be on the ground flopping around for no reason? You know what I mean? Where did that come from? I don’t understand. Because I did not see no car hit him or anything. I seen his leg physically touch the bumper of the car, but they were going in opposite directions, as if your car was in the parking lot and I ran by you. It’s my fault that I hit you when I run by you. You know what I mean? It wasn’t like the car was moving in that direction to physically hit him. It was going in the opposite direction as his leg ran into it. And he looked down at it, you know, like, whoa.
EO: Then he went to the ground or he-
AD: No. He was still standing up. He backed up.
EO: Okay. So he slips, he gets up, then gets hit again?
AD: No. He ran. Like he was trying to, like, figure out where to go. You know?
EO: Mm-hm?
AD: He’s getting away from the car. And he went that direction after the dude start...he was right here, like, right on the side of the car, right? You know? And stepping back. And the guy is like, you know, realizes the cop is still in front of him, don’t run him over or whatever, starts driving backwards, and the cop, like, runs in front of his car, you know, as it’s going that way. And runs across the front of the bumpers, and the, turns around. You know? And then he’s standing there going…..and then the cop started shooting.
EO: I’m confused. The van’s pulling backwards and the cop runs into the van, or---
AD: He was trying to drive away that way.
EO: He’s trying to-
AD: And when he seen the cop in front of him, he’s like…you know? I don’t – to me, in his head, he’s not…that’s what would go through my head. I wouldn’t want to run over the cop.
EO: And the cop runs into the-
AD: No. He – as the car starts backing up, the cop runs that direction. You know what I mean?
EO: Okay.
AD: Because now the cop car is moving backwards. Maybe trying to avoid the mirror or whatever he’s trying to do. I don’t know. But he goes that way as the car moves backwards. And he ran across the bumper. The front of the bumper. Like, as he ran by. You know what I mean?
SH: And he-
AD: And I see him physically, there was enough time for me to watch him look down and go, whoa, you know? Like,, that could have been me falling down and getting hit, type things going through his head.
SH: Right
AD: You know what I mean? That’s what it looked like to me.
SH: But did you actually see him, look like it bumped…jostled this person off to the side of the car when he was running past it, or?
AD: No. It looked…looked just like- have you ever un behind your truck and smack the trailer hitch—
SH: Yeah.
AD: -and you’re like, ah, man, what the –
SH: But did you actually see him do that?
AD: Yeah. I physically watched him run by the car and go boom, and then look down at it like, whoa, I could have got ran over, but the guy was going backwards, so.
SH: No, but I’m just saying, did you actually see him brush against the front of the car-
AD: Yeah.
SH: -with his body-
AD: Yeah.
SH: -When he was running by it?
AD: Yeah. With just, like, his knee. I watched it physically touch him.
EO: Okay. So, the van’ moving then and the other officer, not the one that tried to open the door and slipped and fell, is firing shots? Does more than one officer fire shots?
AD: No, just that one officer-
EO: Just that one?
AD: -I seen just kept shooting.
EO: Okay. Was the van moving while he’s shooting?
AD: I..I.-yeah. The van was moving this direction. He was trying to come right back this way toward the cop car and I even seen it turn like this, to where-
EO: Is he in-
AD: -like he was coming this way.
EO: Is he in-
AD: He was facing this way and he was trying to turn to come, because he was directly in the front of the house, you know, driving forward, so he was trying to turn to come at the angle to come between these trees here, and so, this car came back to an angle to where he was, like, right there in the driver’s seat. I could see through the passenger side right at the cop’s back, and I could see his gun. I could see this side of his gun going, boom, boom, boom as he’s shooting.
EO: Okay
AD: So, he was still trying to drive away. You know what I mean?
EO: Is he trying to go forward or-
AD: Forward.
EO: Okay. Because you say right there he’s doing that-
AD: After he turned around- yeah, i understand. He was going in reverse to get away from the guy.
EO: And-
AD: Somehow he got turned around like this. He, like, backed up and turned around, and then the cop was shooting at him as he’s trying to get out back this way.
EO: Okay.
AD: There’s a cop car there. He’s not going anywhere.
EO: All this is happening in the yard?
AD: All in the yard right there.
EO: Okay.
AD: There’s …I’m sure the dirt…the grass is torn up.
EO: Why is that?
AD: Because they were driving on it, and when you drive on grass, doesn’t it get like, tire marks there? They were doing quite a bit of moving around in that yard, you know.
EO: Okay.
SH: Now, after all that happened, I’m just-
AD: Yah, I understand.
SH: Going back to your point. No one else drove in that yard except for-
AD: Except for that guy
SH: -the van.
AD: The cops stopped their cars at the yards. Or in the yard, but like, you know, they didn’t physically, like try to drive around in circles after him. They got out of their car, because, obviously he can’t go nowhere. You know? So, they’re getting out for the next step.
SH: Okay.
AD: On foot or whatever. You know? When you’ve got him physically blocked off, he can’t go nowhere, you guys run up to the car or whatever.
EO: Okay.
SH: Now, we’re sitting here where we can see the yard and the car here. There’s a police car next to the house in the yard. Do you know how that car got-
AD: There’s a cop car in the yard?
SH: Right there. The one around there.
AD: Oh, this one right here?
SH: Yeah.
AD: Yeah. That…that…..he….he….the cop…..the guy—the suspect went into the yard and he put his car there, I’m assuming, to block it, and then got out of the car.
SH: But you just assume that, right?
AD: I don’t remember which car.
SH: You don’t know how it got there or how it go there. You just know it’s there.
AD: No, I know the cop…when I turned around, they following him in the yard and the cop car was there. It didn’t no longer move. It stopped right where it was and that’s where it’s at. So I’m assuming one of the guys that was there jumped out of that car. Or maybe both of them.
EO: Okay.
AD: But they came on foot. Like, I seen them drive behind me and, as I turn around, he…I see the suspect in the yard, the cop car there, and two cops on foot. I didn’t see where they came from or-I just know that they were boom, right in my vision. Running up on the car.
EO: Did the suspect ever get out of the van?
AD: No. Never.
EO: Okay.
AD: His hands were on the steering wheel trying to figure out where the heck he was going.
EO: Okay. And you said you watched all this from your car. You didn’t get out of your car?
AD: (Nods)
EO: Okay. And you said? You need to say yes or no.
AD: Oh. Yes. Sorry. I forgot we were being recorded.
EO: Okay. You said you watched the entire thing, except the only time you weren’t looking was when?
AD: I took my eyes off the guy that was driving for a second to make sure the cop wasn’t getting ran over-
EO: Okay.
AD: -because he fell down, and then, jumped up, and it looked like he was confused to which way he was going to get out of the way at. You know what I mean? Like he didn’t know which direction to go. And I was like, worried that the cop was going to get ran over.
EO: Okay.
AD: Not because- it didn’t look like the guy was trying to run him over, but it looked like the cop didn’t know which direction to go.
EO: and, let’s see, going back here kind of to the beginning of this, you’re westbound or you just make a turn and you’re headed westbound on 49th. The van and the police are eastbound.
AD: Yes.
EO: There’s a kind of a four-way stop here at the intersection. Did the van stop for the stop sign?
AD: No. He ran right through the stop sign.
EO: Okay. And after he runs through the stop sign is when they—
AD: Did the pit maneuver.
EO: Okay. So, then he ends up coming northbound on 40thAvenue taking-
AD:: A left through the yard.
EO: -turning westbound through these people’s yard at the corner there.
AD: Yes.
EO: Okay. And I think you said when the first shot was fired, do you remember what the guy in the van was doing?
AD: He looked confused, like he was trying to find an escape route, like oh no, like-
EO: I think you said his hands were still on the wheel.
AD: Yeah, his hands were still on the wheel.
EO: Okay. And you don’t know how many shots were fired. But, at some point, then you said his hands fall off the steering wheel?
AD: He-I …I watched him drop back in the seat and the van just rolls.
EO: And where was the van rolling?
AD: Backwards into that street. Whatever this street….cross-street is.
EO: So, it’s now gotten onto the pavement?
AD: Yeah.
EO: And it’s rolling backwards?
AD: Yes.
EO: But his hands have come off the steering wheel?
AD: Yes.
EO: And let’s kind of pick up from there. The van’s rolling backwards, his hands have come off the wheel. What do you see next?
AD: The-I seen cops go over to where that guy was on the ground.
EO: Okay.
AD: And then, I was just confused, wondering where I should go.
EO: Okay. You say-
AD: And I was trying to signal like-
EO: You say the guy on the ground. That’s –
AD: That’s the cop.
EO: -the cop?
AD: Yeah. Laying on the ground after-
EO: Okay. The guy in the van, he’s still inside the van?
AD: Yeah.
EO: Can you see him as-
AD: I ..I was….stopped paying attention after I seen the guy fall like he was dead. I was like, I just didn’t know what to do, where I could go, just-I didn’t think I was supposed to be where I was at. And I was just, at that point trying to get away from the situation.
EO: So, what did you do then?
AD: I just kept waving at the cop, trying to get his attention to see if it was okay if I went to that driveway there. And then, he didn’t pay attention to me. He just looked at me like I was an idiot. So, I just drove over there, anyway.
EO: Okay. So, you pulled out of the immediate scene and parked—
AD: In that driveway where that chimney is there.
EO: Okay. And I might have asked you this already, but did you stay in your car the entire time?
AD: yes, I did. Until I pulled over and parked in the driveway. Then I got out.
EO: Okay.
AD: And called my mom.
SH; Now, you were seated in the minivan….the driver’s sitting there?
AD: No. I was sitting in my car. He was sitting in the driver seat of the minivan, yeah.
SH: Okay. And your-
AD: The guy that got shot.
SH: - what kind of car do you got?
AD: A 95 Mazda Protégé.
SH: And you don’t have any kind of obstructions hanging there that would obstruct your view?
AD: Nothing- oh, sorry. Nothing at all. I have ADHD, so my attention span and my...it’s hard to, like, like, understand when I talk to you guys, you guys got to write it down, and I’ve got to-
EO: Well, you’re getting kind of excited there-
AD: Yeah.
EO: -and saying that and-
AD: But I always do that. And my brain goes like this.
EO: Okay. Not a problem. That’s why we kind of want to walk you through it and go ack and get some specifics. Clarify this and that. Is there anything you can think to add that we haven’t asked you about or talked about?
SH: How were the officers’ demeanor after the shooting.
AD: I don’t know. I…I didn’t even know if I wanted to talk to you guys or not., because, I….I don’t know where I get this idea,. I think off the TV, but like-
SH: No. I mean, were they acting….were you able to (indiscernible)
AD: I don’t….I just turned around. All I remember is the guy on the ground, me trying to get his attention to let me go. I don’t even remember-
EO: So, the guy on the ground, he remained there for some time?
AD: Yeah. I don’t even...I remember him, like rolling over, maybe trying to get up as I pulled away.
EO: Okay Do you remember what color uniform he had on?
AD: They were VPD.
EO: How do you know that?
AD: Because they were in black uniforms.
EO: and you know the difference between-
AD: yes. Yes.
EO: -the uniforms of the county and city? Anything else, Detective Hemstock?
SH: No, I don’t. You don’t need eyeglasses to see clearly?
AD: No.
EO: Okay. Well, again, Anthony, you’re aware that this conversation is being tape recorded?
AD: Yes, I am. Sorry.
EO: And is that with your permission?
AD: Yes.
EO: No threats or promises have been made in order to obtain this statement?
AD: Not at all.
EO: Okay. We’ll go ahead then, and conclude the interview. The time is now 1408 hours.
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