A Washington State Cop Shot Two Black Men After They Allegedly Tried to Shoplift Beer

Last night around one in the morning, Olympia, Washington police responded to a call from a Safeway claiming that two black men had tried to steal beer from the store, only to throw it at the employees and run when their crime was discovered, reports Seattle's Komo News.

Shortly thereafter, the responding officer found two men with skateboards who resembled the descriptions provided to him. After what the officer in question described to investigators as a brief confrontation where a skateboard was used as a weapon, he shot both men—whom the police have indicated were not armed with guns—in the torso. The pair are now in the hospital. As of this morning, one was in critical condition, while the other appeared to be stable.

According to Komo News, the men are stepbrothers. The officer who shot the men has been placed on administrative leave while the Thurston County Critical Incident Team looks into the matter.

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