KALAMA, Wash. — Justin Lindsey was putting his kids in the car Sunday evening outside of his parent’s home when he saw a man walking along Spencer Creek Road.
“He didn't say anything,” Lindsey recalled. “He was wearing a black hoodie and had his hood on. His pants were really muddy and he had a satchel.”
Lindsey said the man had mud up to his knees, kept his head down, and would not make eye contact which is unusual for this tight knit community.
“Yeah, people walk their dogs up and down the road all the time, we wave, we say high, it's normal,” Lindsey explained.
But this definitely was not normal.
“It was weird,” Lindsey said. “I knew what was going on, that there was a manhunt and everything.”
Could this be the man suspected of shooting and killing Cowlitz County Deputy Justin DeRosier a day earlier?
Lindsey called Kalama Police who told him to call 911. Nearby officers arrived quickly.
“Not even five minutes later we heard gunshots,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey thinks he heard about two gunshots just down the road from where he spotted the man, who turned out to be Brian Butts.
Police agencies and two SWAT teams had been searching for Butts for hours. They suspected him of shooting DeRosier about 10 p.m. Saturday after the deputy had responded to a complaint about a motor home blocking a driveway.
When police confronted Butts, they said he pulled out a gun. Two officers opened fire, shooting and killing him.
“I'm glad it's over,” Lindsey said. “I'm glad they got the guy.”