Nanaimo man shot, killed by Washington police after flipping truck on I-5: coroner
Posted December 1, 2022 12:33 pm.
Last Updated December 1, 2022 12:35 pm.
A coroner in Washington state has confirmed a man from Nanaimo was shot and killed by police after a semi-truck was stolen and crashed on a highway in November.
The Thurston County coroner says 32-year-old Neil Alexander Costin was killed in the incident on Nov. 18 on Interstate 5 east of Olympia, Washington.
According to the coroner, Costin stole a semi-truck after the driver was assaulted with a hammer. After he began driving, Costin is said to have crashed into a couple of other vehicles before the truck flipped into the centre median of the highway.
When police arrived, the coroner says Costin “barricaded” himself in the truck before getting out and charging at state troopers with a box cutter. He was then shot.
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Coroner Gary Warnock tells CityNews Costin had been detained by Sumas Border Patrol three days before the I-5 incident, giving officers a fake name and claiming to be a U.S. citizen.
“This was my first time having to deal with someone so young that had no I.D. on him and was using a fake name and date of birth,” Warnock said.
The coroner says he had a gut feeling that Costin may have been Canadian.
“I got to thinking that maybe this guy is not a U.S. citizen because someone who is 32, 33 years old, usually there’s associated names that would pop up, you know, family, acquaintances, old addresses — that kind of stuff.”
Warnock says he forwarded the information to the RCMP in B.C. who confirmed Costin’s identity.
He says Costin’s next of kin have since been notified.
