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Shooting of two men in Olympia, Wash., prompts protests

By Danielle Haynes

OLYMPIA, Wash., May 22 (UPI) -- Protests were held Thursday night in Olympia, Wash., after a police officer shot and injured two men suspected of attempting to steal beer.

The stepbrothers, Andre Thompson, 24, and Bryson Chaplin, 21, were both hospitalized in serious condition.

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Police said the two men allegedly attempted to steal a case of beer from a grocery store then thew the items at a clerk when they were confronted. Thompson and Chaplin allegedly fled the store using skateboards before Officer Ryan Donald confronted them.

Donald radioed to dispatch that he spotted the pair, and moments later radioed that he fired shots.

"I believe one of them is hit, both of them are running," he said, adding that one of the suspects "assaulted me with his skateboard."

"I tried to grab his friend," Donald said. "They're very aggressive, just so you know."

Police said the brothers were not armed.

Donald was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the incident.

Though Thompson and Chaplin are black and Donald is white, Olympia Police Chief Ronnie Roberts said he didn't believe race was a factor in the shooting.

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"There's no indication to me that race was a factor in this case at all," he said during a news conference Thursday.

Still, some members of the community compared the shooting to a number of other recent incidents of police brutality across the United States that appeared to be motivated by race. Hundreds of people marched to Olympia City Hall carrying signs reading "black lives matter," similar to those seen in protests in Baltimore, Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere across the country.

"Stolen beer does not equal stolen lives," the demonstrators chanted.

Roberts said he recognized the seriousness of the incident and race relations in the city.

"We are committed to helping our community work through this difficult circumstance and help us understand this tragic event," he said.

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