20 seconds, 70 shots -- Firefight leaves felon in critical condition

Authorities said the man critically wounded in a shootout with Yakima police Wednesday night was wanted for violating parole and had been warning for days that he was armed with an assault rifle and would not be taken alive.

Acting police Chief Greg Copeland said officers had every reason to believe that Lance A. Nanamkin could follow through on his threats.

Nanamkin, who turns 31 today, has a lengthy criminal history with five felony convictions, including manslaughter for a Yakima gang shooting in 2001.

"These days, the unfortunate reality is that hardly anybody stays in prison forever," Copeland said.

Police estimate 70 gunshots were exchanged in a brief but furious gun battle between Nanamkin and officers following a 20-mile chase from Toppenish.

It was in Toppenish that a police officer spotted a white Ford Crown Victoria that had been reported stolen earlier in the week from Legends Casino, according to Toppenish police Chief Adam Diaz, who appeared alongside Copeland at a Thursday afternoon news conference.

Copeland and Diaz said Nanamkin was wanted on a state Department of Corrections warrant for parole violation and that Corrections officials reported Nanamkin had been threatening for several days that he was armed with an assault rifle and would not be taken alive.

"He said he wouldn't be taken alive and that he would shoot it out with police," Copeland said.

When police tried to pull over the Crown Victoria, its driver refused to stop and instead fled north to Yakima as he was chased by police from Toppenish and Zillah, as well as Yakima County sheriff's deputies. When he reached Yakima about 9:30 p.m. he veered off Interstate 82 at the Nob Hill Boulevard exit.

From there, Yakima police took over the chase, which continued north on Fair Avenue until eventually reaching E Street near Fourth Street, where the driver suddenly stopped.

Copeland said Nanamkin then opened fire through his back window with the AR-15, commonly known as the civilian version of the military M-16.

The ensuing firefight was so brief and intense that some neighbors thought a string of firecrackers had been set off. Copeland estimated 70 shots were fired in about 20 seconds -- 18 to 20 from the suspect's AR-15 assault rifle and 50 from officers returning fire.

Two patrol cars were peppered with gunfire, Copeland said, including at least one shot that penetrated a car's windshield.

"They were definitely in the right to return fire and do what they could to end the threat," he said.

Nanamkin was shot six times, including twice in the head. Despite his wounds, officers said they had to wrestle the rifle away from him.

Nanamkin is in critical condition at a local hospital after undergoing surgery.

No officers were seriously injured in the exchange of gunfire, although two received minor injuries from flying glass, Copeland said.

Five officers were involved in the shooting: three regular Yakima patrol officers, a Yakima reserve officer and the Toppenish officer who first spotted the stolen Ford.

Copeland said the four Yakima officers were placed on paid administrative leave pending a review of the shootout by county Prosecutor Jim Hagarty. Their names will be released today. Diaz said his officer also was placed on leave.

In 2001, Nanamkin was convicted of second-degree manslaughter for his role in the death of Antone "Tony" Masovero, a rival gang member who was shot twice in the head while sitting in a car with several friends outside a taco stand on Nob Hill Boulevard near Fair Avenue.

Witnesses said co-defendant Salvador "Chava" Nava was the primary gunman and that Nanamkin tried to shoot at the car, too, but his gun jammed. After evading capture for seven years, Nava was caught trying to re-enter the United States from Mexico in 2008 and is now serving a 43-year prison sentence for first-degree premeditated murder.

Nanamkin was sentenced to six years for his role in Masovero's death. He later served a 22-month stretch for a second-degree assault in 2007 in Walla Walla County, according to court records.

More recently, a 2010 domestic violence case was dismissed after prosecutors were unable to locate the alleged victim, Nanamkin's girlfriend.

Police said they do not know where Nanamkin got the AR-15 and are trying to track its origin.

Wednesday night's shooting was the fourth involving Yakima police this year. Sunnyside police also had an officer-involved shooting in May.

* May 20 -- Ross Nager, 18, was shot to death by members of the Yakima police SWAT team after an armed standoff with police and sheriff's deputies in the Selah area.

It was the SWAT team's first fatal shooting since its inception in 1977, but the police department's fifth since 2003. Before that, Yakima police had not been involved in a fatal shooting since 1975.

* May 9 -- A Yakima police officer shot and seriously wounded a troubled but armed Iraq war veteran in a confrontation outside a Bank of America branch at 40th and Summitview avenues.

Police said Raymond Faucher, 24, was intoxicated and had been intimidating bank employees, who called police but did not realize Faucher was armed. He reportedly remains hospitalized. An update on his medical condition was not immediately available Thursday.

* April 30 -- Sunnyside police shot and killed Jose Campuzano when they said he took out a handgun and fired on officers as he was being taken into custody. Campuzano, 23, was in a vehicle that was stopped after it had been involved in a shooting moments earlier. He was hit eight times. It was thought to be the first time Sunnyside police had ever shot anybody.

* Jan. 30 -- A Yakima police officer shot and killed Yueri Acevedo Cisneros, 27, after he refused to stop stabbing a man lying in the 1100 block of South Fourth Avenue.

County Prosecutor Jim Hagarty has since labeled the shooting as justified, saying evidence included video showing Acevedo Cisneros looking up at the officer before resuming the attack. The victim survived despite suffering 159 stab wounds.