A group of about 40 gathered in front of the Kitsap County courthouse on Friday afternoon, chanting “David."
Friends of David Pruitte, the man shot by a Kitsap County sheriff's deputy on Aug. 4, gathered to remember his life and call attention to police shootings.
“Say his name,” repeated Brian Davison, an organizer of the event, echoing a phrase that has been used in national protests against police brutality in the wake of the death of George Floyd, who was killed in the custody of Minneapolis police officers in May.
The group chanted Pruitte's name back loudly, hoping the people inside the courthouse could hear.
“These people need to know him, they need to know his name and that his life matters,” Davison said.
People in the group waved signs at passing cars that read “Justice for David” and delivered messages about “changing the system”.
Pruitte, 36, was shot by Deputy Andrew Hren, a member of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team after 911 calls about a man dangling his legs over the Bethel Burley Road overpass above Highway 16, the sheriff's office said in a press release on Wednesday.
An investigation is being conducted by a team assembled from Kitsap County law enforcement agencies called the Kitsap Critical Incident Response Team, or KCIRT.
Full details of what led the deputy to shoot Pruitte have not been released. On Thursday, an update from KCIRT said that on Aug. 4, "Kitsap 911 received numerous calls from concerned citizens who observed Pruitte’s alarming behavior."
Shortly after deputies arrived, according to KCIRT, "Kitsap 911 dispatch received a report of shots fired from a citizen witness on scene."
While the office has identified Hren as the deputy who fired at Pruitte, KCIRT said a second deputy was on scene with him and "is cooperating with the ongoing investigation."
Several people spoke at the event on Friday, calling for answers to why Pruitte was shot. Those gathered brought attention to other on-duty shootings Hren was involved in, both in 2017.
Hren was one of eight law enforcement officers involved in the July 9, 2017, fatal shooting of Robert D. Yeiser, 34, who shot upwards of 200 rounds toward Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island while aboard the 50-foot sailboat the Flying Gull.
He was one of two officers involved in the Sept. 23, 2017, non-fatal shooting of Jordan J. Kahn. Khan had led a lengthy standoff with police at his home on Shorewood Drive in Bremerton.
Several who spoke on Friday questioned why a SWAT team member was sent on a call for someone who needed mental health assistance.
Robert Holder questioned why a deputy would shoot Pruitte or others in a mental health crisis if the county has spent money on de-escalation training for deputies. Holder was a friend of Pruitte’s for 23 years, since high school, he said.
“A cop we pay to protect him decided that wasn’t a valuable life,” Holder said during his speech about Pruitte, “He decided that David doesn’t get another chance to try to recover. He decided that David wasn’t important.”
Another close friend of Pruitte’s, Summer Hill, said she learned while attending a viewing of his body on Thursday that five bullets were fired. She said she was ashamed of her home, Kitsap County.
“Kitsap County, things need to change,” she said. “They needed to change before this. We’re not going to accept the not changing anymore.”
Kitsap County coroner Jeff Wallis on Saturday would not provide details into how many times Pruitte was shot. On Monday, he confirmed that Pruitte died from a gunshot wound to the chest and that the manner of death was homicide — meaning it was intentional, not necessarily a crime.
Friends of Pruitte’s called for police to be held accountable for their actions and for better training for officers with more regard for mental health. Some said they don’t believe in defunding the police, but that there needs to be reform.
“I understand if we remove the police we’re looking at pandemonium, chaos,” Holder said. But Holder questioned where the deputy’s head was at.
“Don’t send a killer to save a life,” Holder said.
Franke Meade didn’t know Pruitte but came to the event because Pruitte’s and others’ stories of police brutality resonated with him.
“I didn’t know David, but I’ve heard a million stories just like David’s,” Meade said. “It’s happening every day in every city all across the country.”
He said he’s tired of hearing about people being killed and a lack of accountabiltiy for police.
"We're at a turning point, a crossroads," Meade said. "If we don't keep the pressure up we're going to lose all the momentum we have for effective change."
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Crowd gathers to mourn death of David Pruitte, killed in officer-involved shooting - Kitsap Sun
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