Police Shooting in Pasco, Washington

Amaury · Feb 12, 2015

I'm not gonna pick a side or form full opinions until there's more information available and we have the whole story, but the guy had been throwing rocks at people; sometime after the police arrived, he assaulted two of the officers. They deployed their tasers and stun guns, but they had no effect, and the guy started running and would not listen to commands to get on the ground before being shot.

From the looks of the video in the source below, he was definitely getting ready to attack the officers. It looked like he was reaching for his waist, I'm not sure, but he definitely had something in his hand -- likely a rock, which can kill or severely injure people depending on various factors, such as size and force thrown at -- when he turned around with a threatening stance.

Source: Chicago Tribune

Published: February 11, 2015

Chicago Tribune said:

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.
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Amaury · Feb 13, 2015

There are protests going on, which doesn't surprise me, but the residents of Pasco seem to be handling it in a mature and civilized manner. I haven't heard of any other protests in Washington nor of any rioting going on.

Source: The Seattle Times

Published: February 11, 2015, Updated: February 12, 2015

The Seattle Times said:

The videotaped deadly shooting by Pasco police of a homeless man who had reportedly been throwing rocks on a busy downtown street has raised numerous questions and prompted a protest Wednesday outside City Hall.

More than a dozen people apparently witnessed Tuesday’s rush-hour confrontation between 35-year-old Antonio Zambrano-Montes, who had gotten out of jail on Monday, and three officers. The officers had tried to arrest him after witnesses reported he was throwing rocks at cars outside the Fiesta Foods supermarket in downtown Pasco.

At least one witness posted a graphic cellphone video on YouTube showing Zambrano-Montes being pursued across a street by the officers and then collapsing to the sidewalk under a hail of police gunfire. Witnesses said Zambrano-Montes was carrying a rock and was walking away when the officers fired as many as 13 rounds.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington called the shooting “very disturbing,” and at least one eyewitness questioned the use of deadly force on a crowded street.

“I could not believe they were shooting guns. There were cars and people everywhere,” said Pasco resident Benjamin Patrick.

It was the fourth fatal police shooting in Pasco, a city of about 68,000, in the past six months. Officers were cleared of wrongdoing in the previous shootings.

Pasco Police Chief Robert Metzger, at a news conference Wednesday, identified the officers involved in Tuesday’s shooting as Ryan Flanagan, a nine-year veteran assigned to patrol and traffic safety; Adam Wright, an eight-year veteran assigned to patrol who is also a firearms instructor and field training officer; and Adrian Alaniz, a patrol officer who has been with the department for two years.

He said the officers would be placed on administrative leave while a Special Investigative Unit, led and staffed by detectives from surrounding agencies, investigated the shooting. He said the results would be reviewed by Pasco police and the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office, and then released publicly. That could take weeks or months, the chief said.

“In the meantime, I would ask the public to believe in us and believe in the system and believe we will do the right thing,” he said.

Pasco police will conduct an internal review to determine whether the shooting complied with department polices. Capt. Ken Roske said particular attention will be paid to the officers’ decision to fire their weapons in what Metzger described Wednesday as one of the busiest intersections in Pasco.

In the meantime, the chief said he planned to meet privately with Zambrano-Montes’ family and hoped his promise of an independent investigation would satisfy the public, which he acknowledged as “understandably concerned” over the incident.

The Tri-City Herald reported about 60 people gathered outside Pasco City Hall on Wednesday to protest the shooting. Some held a sign that read, “Stop police brutality! It was rock!”

More than 100 protesters took to the street near the shooting scene Wednesday night, chanting “use your training, not your gun,” the newspaper reported.

“Fleeing from police and not following an officer’s command should not be sufficient for a person to get shot,” ACLU of Washington Director Kathleen Taylor said in a statement.

Metzger said police received a 911 call around 5 p.m. Tuesday from someone reporting a man was throwing rocks at passing cars at 10th Avenue South and West Lewis Street.

Metzger said two police officers were struck by rocks thrown by Zambrano-Montes. He said one of the rocks was as large as a softball.

He said officers tried to use a Taser on the man, but that the device had no effect.

Metzger said he did not know whether Zambrano-Montes was armed with anything other than rocks. Witnesses said they saw nothing else in his hands.

According to Franklin County Superior Court records, Zambrano-Montes was arrested in January 2014 on a felony charge of assaulting an officer when police were called to a disturbance involving a man reportedly hitting cars with a broom.

Officers confronted Zambrano-Montes, who they said threw several large objects at them — including a mailbox — before trying to run away. When one of the officers grabbed him, according to court documents, Zambrano-Montes allegedly tried to grab his gun, forcing the officer to head-butt him to try to break free. He was arrested after another officer used a Taser on him.

Because of his erratic behavior, Zambrano-Montes was first taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, where court documents indicate he acknowledged being under the influence of methamphetamine.

Court records indicate he pleaded guilty in June and was arrested just last week, apparently for failing to appear at a court hearing. He was released from jail on Monday, the docket indicates.

Patrick, a Pasco resident, was with his wife and three children at the Fiesta Foods grocery store and saw a police officer struggling with a man. Patrick said he got out of his car and was going to help the officer when two other Pasco officers drove up and confronted the man.

Patrick said the man was yelling at police. He said the man picked up two “rocks or dirt clods” and threw one, but it didn’t hit anyone.

At that point, he said, one of the officers tried to use a Taser, but Patrick doesn’t think both of the darts connected with the man. He said the man appeared to pull a dart from his arm and then start walking across the intersection.

“That’s when they started shooting,” Patrick said.

Patrick believes the man was first hit at that point. “I saw him react, sort of jump, like he’d been stung by a bee,” he said.

The man kept walking across the street onto the sidewalk, with the officers in pursuit. Patrick said he heard the police tell the man to get on the ground several times. The man appeared to turn, and a second volley of shots was fired and the man collapsed.

“I am really upset about what I saw,” said Patrick. “Yes, he was resisting. Yes, he was wrong. But it looked like there might be something wrong with him. And he wasn’t hurting anyone. He had a rock, not a gun. It seems it could have been handled differently.”

Chris Pirtle, another Pasco resident, was at the intersection in his car when he saw the man was throwing rocks at the officers.

“He had one cop in front of him, one behind him,” Pirdle told KNDU-TV news. “He would throw a rock at one in front of him, go back throw a rock at the guy behind him.”

Pirtle said the man had “a decent-sized rock in his hand and went to flinch and that’s when they just opened fire and dropped him.”

“He kept on screaming, ‘Shoot me, shoot me.’ ” Pirtle said. “And they just told him to drop the rocks and he just did not want to listen.”

Ayn Dietrich-Williams, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Seattle, said the bureau is aware of the video and that agents were watching the local investigation.
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Amaury · Feb 16, 2015

A family, which I assume was the homeless man's family, has sued the city of Pasco for $25 million.

Source: CNN

Published: February 14, 2015

CNN said:

(CNN)The family of a Mexican national fatally shot by police in Pasco, Washington, has filed a $25 million claim against the city alleging that three officers killed the unarmed man "execution style."

Antonio Zambrano-Montes, 35, was shot by police Tuesday after he allegedly hurled rocks at vehicles and Pasco officers.

The city and the police department weren't commenting on the claim, Pasco City Manager Dave Zabell said Saturday.

The case is attracting attention because a video posted on YouTube shows Zambrano running across a street with police in pursuit before he was fatally shot. The shooting has sparked local protests and anger at what some say is another example of police brutality and excessive force against an unarmed man who is a minority.

Zambrano-Montes' widow, Teresa De Jesus Meraz Ruiz, 32, and the couple's two minor daughters accused three Pasco officers in "the murder" of Zambrano-Montes, according to the claim filed Friday.

One officer, Ryan Flanagan, "has a prior history of official misconduct in civil rights matters," the claim alleges. The other two officers are Adam Wright and Adrian Alaniz, the claim said.

The three officers are on paid administrative leave; Zabell said the city wouldn't comment on the accusations against them.

Flanagan is a nine-year veteran; Wright, a firearms instructor with eight years' experience; and Alaniz, an officer with two years on the job, officials said.

Mexican diplomat concerned
Meanwhile, the Mexican consul in Seattle, Eduardo Baca, wrote a letter Thursday to Police Chief Robert Metzger expressing "deep concern over the unwarranted use of lethal force against an unarmed Mexican national by police officers."

Baca asked for a thorough investigation "in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Affairs provision, to which both Mexico and the United States are parties."

Read consul's letter

On Friday, Metzger wrote a letter to Baca stating that the Pasco department and other law agencies are investigating "the circumstances surrounding the incident."

When a Tri-City Special Investigations Unit completes its inquiry, the report will be forwarded to the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office, Metzger wrote.

Police have alleged that Zambrano-Montes was throwing rocks at cars and trucks when he was confronted by officers. Officers attempted "voice commands and low level force," and used a Taser, police said, but those efforts were unsuccessful.

Read chief's reply

After two officers were struck with rocks -- at least one of them as large as a softball -- police said the officers resorted to deadly force.

Didn't understand English
Zambrano-Montes's family have told reporters he wouldn't have been able to understand the commands.

"He didn't understand English and they were talking to him in English," one cousin said. "Why not get a Hispanic officer?"

The incident began, according to the claim, on Tuesday about 5 p.m. when Zambrano-Montes was suspected of throwing rocks.

A very brief encounter occurred between Zambrano-Montes and police, "during which the officers may have tried to taser" him, the claim said.

Zambrano-Montes separated from the officer and walked away from them in the crosswalk, the claim said.

"He had his back to the officers," the claim said. "At this point, the officers started shooting at Mr. Zambrano-Montes.

"After Mr. Zambrano-Montes reached the other side of the street and got on the sidewalk, he continued to walk away from the officers with his hands out where they could be seen, again showing that he had no knife, no gun or nothing else in his hands that would cause a threat to the three officers who were then lined up on the sidewalk behind ... Antonio Zambrano-Montes," the claim alleges.

"As Mr. Zambrano-Montes turned toward the officers, all three officers fired multiple rounds, killing Antonio Zambrano-Montes on the sidewalk in front of numerous businesses," the claim alleges.

"At the time that he was shot and killed, execution style, by the three officers named herein, in broad daylight, and with no knife or firearm in his hands, and for the conduct of throwing rocks at an earlier time, Mr. Zambrano-Montes posed no danger to the three officers, such that they were justified in the use of deadly force..." the claim said.

The claim accuses the police of assault, battery, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, wrongful death and civil rights violations.

Police-involved shootings
The claim said the incident was the third fatal shooting by a Pasco officer "in a very short period of time," and accused the city of "retaining officers who had a proven history of violation of civil rights against the Latino/Hispanic community" and "allowing and fostering overt racial (animus) towards the Hispanic/Latino community within the Pasco Police Department."

Zambrano-Montes's shooting death was the fourth fatal officer-involved shooting in Pasco in the past seven months, said city spokesman Jon Funfar. One of those shootings, however, involved a deputy from Benton County, although Pasco is in Franklin County, Funfar said. According to the Tri-City Herald, officers were cleared in the other three shootings.

The coroner said his office would conduct a separate inquest in the Zambrano-Montes case with six community members, once the law enforcement investigation is complete.

The family's attorney, George Trejo, said supporters were scheduled to march Saturday from a park to City Hall and the police department.

On Wednesday, about 100 protesters marched outside Pasco City Hall, with some chanting "It was only a rock," CNN affiliate KEPR reported.

The shooting comes in a period of strained police-community relations following the police-involved deaths last summer of Eric Garner, 43, on Staten Island in New York and Michael Brown, 18, in Ferguson, Missouri.

The medical examiner ruled Garner's July 17 death a homicide due to compression of his neck and chest when he was taken down by an officer using a chokehold. His death sparked street protests, a review of police procedures and calls for a federal civil rights investigation. A grand jury declined to prosecute Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the case.

A few weeks later, Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson shot Brown after an altercation in the street.

The death of Brown, who was unarmed, thrust into the forefront the issue of law enforcement's use of deadly force. A grand jury declined to prosecute Wilson, a decision that led to national demonstrations.
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Police Shooting in Pasco, Washington

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