Man Killed in Franklin County Confrontation Was Ex-Marine
It seems the more we learn about the brief but tragic incident that claimed the life of a 28-year-old man early Monday morning in Franklin County, the more questions there are.
It began with 3 Deputies responding to a report of a car driving slowly or prowling an area near Sagemoor and Hollingsworth Roads, around 3AM. Deputies reported they didn't find a vehicle at the specific location, but then spotted a car driven by Dante Redmon Jones speeding very fast down Sagemoor. After failing to pull him over, Deputies on radio were heard to say he was allegedly trying to ram their patrol units. Whether Jones tried to hit them while in or out of their cars is not clear.
Nor is it conclusively known if Jones had or used a gun, the Coroner's report says Jones died from gunshot wounds. His car careened off the road into an orchard northwest of Basin City, followed by at least one Deputy vehicle. The entire incident only lasted about ten minutes, but still we don't know much at all. According to scanner traffic, the officers mentioned "suspect down" and "ambulance needed." There were also references to gunshots fired.
The three Deputies are on paid administrative leave while the SIU (Special Investigations Unit) handles the case. Sources say Jones spent time in Federal Way besides here, and served in the Marines, but for how long was not specific. Some reports indicate from relatives he was perhaps a veteran who might have had some personal difficulties upon leaving the service, one relative said he'd been let down by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the medical healthcare system after his service.
We can, apparently, only wait for more information from the SIU to answer the dozens of questions surrounding this case. It's more foggy now than the early morning hours when the incident occured.