Coos Bay officials have issued a three-page account of Wednesday's shooting on the Southwestern Oregon Community College campus.

According to details released Thursday, Coos Bay Police officers assisted by two Southwestern security guards and a Coquille Tribal Police officer were at the college to serve an arrest warrant for Steven Lile Garner, 34.

Garner was linked to a robbery at the Wells Fargo bank in downtown Coos Bay, when four of five fingerprints on a note passed to a teller were identified as his. From a photo lineup, Garner was then identified by a teller on May 11 as the robbery suspect.

With no known address for the suspect, police went to look for Garner at Southwestern, where he was known to be taking classes.

At about 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Garner was apparently in a game room in the student union when he learned that police were on campus looking for someone. Police said he left and went to a writing laboratory, where a witness told police he seemed agitated.

From there, Garner was seen running through a wooded area and toward Campus Way Road, where a Southwestern security guard spotted him.

Police accounts indicate the security guard yelled at Garner to stop and that Garner then turned back and reached into his pocked, pulling out an item that at the time appeared to be a weapon.

The guard became entangled with Garner and struck him across the shoulder with a collapsible baton. Eventually, Garner turned away and ran back toward Campus Way Road.

With the guard apparently giving chase, Garner began discarding portions of a sling he was wearing to secure a broken wrist, police said.

From Campus Way Road, police said Garner ran toward the college's main parking lot at the southwest corner of the campus. There, police said he charged directly toward Detective Hugo Hatzel, a 10-year veteran in Coos County law enforcement.

Police said Hatzel, who was not in uniform at the time, identified himself as a police officer and repeatedly ordered Garner to the ground. When he failed to obey the orders, Hatzel drew his gun but continued backing away from Garner until he was trapped between two cars.

Police said Garner continued to advance, waving what the officer believed to be a weapon.

Backed nearly into a ditch near the parking lot, Hatzel fired four shots, striking Garner twice in the chest. The two bullets passed through Garner. A third was found lodged in a parked vehicle. Police said the fourth bullet has not been found.

Police on scene gave Garner first aid until an ambulance arrived and he was taken to Bay Area Hospital, where he was declared dead.

At the scene, police learned the item Garner had been brandishing was a large Sharpie pen.

Hatzel and two other officers who were working backup while serving the arrest warrant have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation being spearheaded by the North Bend Police Department. Coos Bay Police said it is common procedure for officers involved in arrests that result in shootings to be taken off duty during the investigation and to allow them to receive counseling to readjust before returning to work.

- Andrew Sirocchi, staff writer