Weston resident identified as man shot by Walla Walla police Aug. 21
Published 11:00 am Monday, August 23, 2021
- A police officer talks with a driver for Lightfoot's Towing in the parking lot of the Fraternal Order of Eagles on South Second Avenue Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, after a shooting Saturday night.
WALLA WALLA — Investigators have identified the man shot by a Walla Walla police officer Saturday, Aug. 21, during an altercation outside the Eagles lodge as 34-year-old K.C. Leon, of Weston.
Leon was taken to a local hospital and later transferred out of the area for additional treatment, according to an update issued Aug. 23 by the Kennewick Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit, which has been tasked with independently investigating the shooting.
No official information has been released about Leon’s current condition.
Police were dispatched at 10:49 p.m. Aug. 21 for a report of a disturbance in the parking lot of the Fraternal Order of Eagles on South Second Avenue, according to the release.
Walla Walla Police Officer Kevin Toon was the first to arrive, and he was not accompanied by any other officers when he made contact with people on the scene, according to the release.
Toon reported he had shot Leon at about 10:54 p.m. Other responding police officers rendered emergency first aid to Leon while waiting for paramedics with the Walla Walla Fire Department to arrive, investigators said.
Leon allegedly had a gun at the time of the shooting, the release stated, but investigators did not indicate whether Leon reached for the gun or had pointed it at Toon before the officer shot him.
While investigating the shooting, officers reportedly found a gun in close proximity to where Toon confronted Leon.
That night, Walla Walla Police Chief Scott Bieber called the Kennewick Special Investigations Unit to take over the scene, per state law, and that team relieved all Walla Walla police officers of any involvement in the investigation at about 1 a.m. Aug. 22.
Toon has been placed on administrative leave per policy. The four-year veteran of the WWPD was also involved in the 2018 shooting death of Christopher Adam Borland, 40, of Walla Walla.
In that case, Borland, who was armed and believed to be suicidal, was killed when Toon and two other officers shot at him near the roundabouts on Myra Road adjacent to Mill Creek.
