RITZVILLE — In its first legally mandated weekly update, the Columbia Basin Investigative Team issued a statement regarding its investigation into the death of a suspect at the hands of a Ritzville police officer.

According to the statement, the deceased, 48-year-old Shawn Lee, was passing through Ritzville on Friday when his vehicle broke down and was towed to Love’s Travel Stop.

By Saturday morning, police reportedly received reports about Lee, including two calls from Lee himself in which he alleged he was being tracked and his truck was being bugged. In addition, family from out of the area reportedly called to inform police that Lee was suicidal and in possession of a sword. Lee denied those claims, and officers left.

Police were called out to Love’s again Saturday night, when a family member with Lee went inside of the store to ask for help. Ritzville Police Officer Jeff Lane and Washington State Patrol Trooper Nate Romaneschi responded to the call.

Shortly after police arrived, Lee allegedly exited a parked car and began to swing a machete aggressively.

“While officers spoke with Lee and tried to get him to drop the machete, the family member on scene attempted to intervene,” CBIT wrote in a statement. “Ignoring the officers, as well as his family member, Lee began to advance on the officers.”

Lane reportedly deployed a stun gun in an attempt to subdue Lee, but it was ineffective. CBIT did not specify in its statement whether the stun gun was deployed correctly, what distance it was deployed at or whether any other attempts to use less-than-lethal force were made.

Lee reportedly continued to approach the officers while swinging his machete when Lane shot him from 10 feet away. The statement did not specify how many times Lee was shot.

An ambulance was called, and both Lee and Romaneschi reportedly attempted to perform first aid on Lee, but Lee was pronounced dead at a hospital.

CBIT, the regional investigatory team tasked with reviewing the death of suspects at the hands of officers, consists of detectives from law enforcement agencies throughout Grant and Adams counties. The lead investigative team in this case consists of a Grant County Sheriff’s Office detective and a Moses Lake Police Department detective, according to a statement.