Washington police shoot and kill man throwing rocks
A homeless man who was shot and
killed by officers at a busy intersection had thrown multiple rocks, hitting
two officers, and had refused to put down other stones, authorities said
Wednesday.
Officers used a stun gun on the
man, but it had no effect, Pasco Police Chief Bob Metzger said at a news
conference. Because of his "threatening" behavior, officers fired
their guns, he said.
Metzger said he did not know
whether a weapon was found.
The man killed was 35-year-old
Antonio Zambrano-Montes, whose last address was a Pasco homeless shelter, said
Franklin County Coroner Dan Blasdel.
Witnesses say the man was
running away when he was shot. They told the Tri-City Herald the man had run
about half a block when he was killed about 5 p.m. Tuesday near the Fiesta
Foods store.
The shooting occurred after
officers responded to a report of a man throwing rocks at cars at a busy
intersection near a grocery store.
Dario Infante, 21, of Pasco,
recorded video (Warning: graphic footage) from a vehicle about 50 feet away as
the scene unfolded. In an email interview, he said he decided to start
recording when he saw an officer trying to use a stun gun on the man. Infante
said he saw the man throw a few rocks at police officers but he didn't see him
hit any officers. Five "pops" are audible shortly after the video
begins, and the man can be seen running away, across a street and down a
sidewalk, pursued by three officers.
As the officers draw closer to
the running man, he stops, turns around and faces them. Multiple
"pops" are heard and the man falls to the ground.
"He didn't throw any rocks
after he started running," Infante said.
Several dozen people gathered
at Pasco City Hall on Wednesday afternoon to raise concerns about the shooting.
The ACLU of Washington also
issued a statement, calling the incident "very disturbing."
"Fleeing from police and
not following an officer's command should not be sufficient for a person to get
shot," the group's executive director, Kathleen Taylor. Deadly force
should be used only as a last resort, she said.
Witness Ben Patrick told the
newspaper police fired at the man as his back was turned.
"I really thought they
were just going walk up and tackle or tase him," he said. "But they
opened fire. His back was turned."
Patrick's wife, Shannon, also
said the man was running away. The shooting happened in front of her young
children.
"He turned around to take
off running and the cops just shot him," she said. "All he was trying
to do was walk away."
Other witnesses heard officers
give the man orders to stop and drop the rock. They said the man refused to
listen.
Metzger has identified the
three officers involved in the shooting. They were placed on leave for the
investigation, a standard practice.
The Tri-City Special
Investigation Unit, which will not include Pasco police, will investigate.
Investigators are looking at cellphone video of the scene that has been posted
online.
Carlos Sanchez, who witnessed
the shooting from the grocery store parking lot, also said it looked like the
man was running away from officers when he was killed.
"They started shooting and
they kept on shooting him," he said.
Tuesday's case was the fourth
fatal shooting involving a Tri-City police officer in Pasco in the last six
months. Officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing in all three of the
previous cases.
