VANCOUVER, Wash. — The mother of the robbery suspect who stabbed a Vancouver police officer multiple times before a responding Clark County deputy mistakenly shot and killed the officer said her son struggled with his mental health.
Julio Segura, 20, is in the Clark County Jail and faces charges of first-degree attempted murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, third-degree assault, possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to elude police.
In an interview with KGW, Eva Segura said her son had been going to therapy since he was younger, around the age of 8 or 9, but had recently stopped going to sessions.
"I stopped taking him because I thought he seemed OK," she said. "But then he started again."
Segura attended high school in Vancouver, but had lived with his mother in Yakima, Washington for more than three years, she said.
"That’s why when he wanted to come here from Vancouver, I said ‘ok at least he’s here with me and I can keep an eye on him. I can keep an eye on his actions,'" she said. "He wasn’t OK. Maybe that’s why he acted like this this time."
Eva Segura received a call Monday from officials, informing her of the incident her son had been involved in. Off-duty Vancouver police officer Donald Sahota died after a Clark County Sheriff's deputy unintentionally shot and killed him while pursuing Segura after an armed robbery, according to court documents.
The robbery occurred at a Chevron convenience store in the Orchards area. Segura is accused of fleeing in a stolen vehicle, before he eventually ditched the car in the Battle Ground area and ran away, documents say.
He pounded on the door of Sahota's home and the two struggled, investigators said. Sahota was armed with a gun but lost control of it, and Segura stabbed him multiple times. Sahota recovered the gun and chased Segura, who was trying to enter his home. Deputies arrived on scene, and shortly after, one of them fired several rounds, killing Sahota. The crimes team said Sahota collapsed on his front porch before the responding deputies were able to determine he was the homeowner and not the robbery suspect.
Sahota had been with Vancouver Police since 2014 and worked previously with the Gresham Police Department.
The deputy who shot him was identified as Jonathan Feller. Feller was involved in another high-profile deadly police shooting in October 2020.
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He served as a law enforcement officer in South Dakota about 14 years before he was hired by the Clark County Sheriff's Office in 2018. He was placed on critical incident leave after Saturday's shooting, which is standard protocol following a use of force incident that results in serious injury or death.