Subject was safely taken into custody and booked into the Clark County Jail

A La Center man was taken into custody after barricading himself in a rural property after a family disturbance Thursday. David D. McCandless, 57, of La Center, was booked into the Clark County Jail on charges of Assault IV-DV and Reckless Endangerment. 

On Thursday (Feb. 2) at about 1:40 p.m., personnel from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) responded to a report of an assault that had just occurred on a rural property in the 34600 Block of NE 127^th Avenue in La Center.  A female family member called 9-1-1 to report her male relative had just assaulted an elderly family member by punching him in the face and knocking him to the ground. The caller reported she believed the subject to be drunk and possibly suicidal.

Deputies had been out to this residence on Wednesday (Feb. 1) after a minor disturbance was reported. The subject was reportedly suicidal and armed with a firearm in the basement. The family did not feel that the subject was a danger to anyone and the subject spoke to deputies on the phone. The deputies offered to connect the subject with mental health resources or arrange a ride to go to the hospital to be evaluated. The subject declined. With the situation calmed and not wanting to provoke a confrontation the deputies disengaged.

On Thursday, when deputies arrived on the scene they had the above information from the previous day. They contacted the family by phone. Some of the family was coming out of the residence down the driveway to speak with the deputies when the subject came out from a detached barn and shot off a round from a revolver-style handgun into the yard. The deputies reported that the shot appeared to impact a tractor in the yard. The deputies got the two family members safely to cover. Concerned that the subject could go back into the house, the deputies got a team together and went into the main residence to get an elderly male out of the home to safety. The elderly male was safely evacuated. 

CCSO deputies contained the residence and launched an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). The UAS team located the subject standing outside the barn. The subject was walking around the property and shot off another round, possibly toward the UAS. Eventually, the subject went back into the barn. 

The Southwest Washington Regional Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team was activated due to the presence of a firearm and the shots fired by the subject. A search warrant was applied for and granted by a judge to enter the barn to arrest the subject.

During this process, the subject was able to exit the barn and break the containment which was set around the barn. The subject moved into a wooded area around the property and attempted to conceal himself in some brush near a creek. The Sheriff’s Office UAS was able to keep watch of the subject while the SWAT team assembled an arrest team and devised a plan to safely take the subject into custody. The subject was contained in a wooded area for some time before surrendering to SWAT operators.

The subject was arrested without incident. There is no ongoing threat to the area. 

Information provided by Clark County Sheriff’s Office.