SPOKANE, Wash. – The Spokane County Prosecutor announced that no charges will be filed against the five members of Spokane law enforcement who killed robbery suspect Dominic Shears
The standoff between Shears, who was suspected of a robbery when he was confronted by police in downtown Spokane, took five hours. It ended with Spokane Sheriff’s Office Detective Derek McNall and Spokane Police Officers Jacob Siegel, Robert Riggles, Brandon Lynch and Scott Lesser shooting at Shears, killing him.
The prosecutor’s office said that the offers used legitimate deadly force in its decision announcement Friday.
“[They] were justified in their use of deadly force against Dominic Shears, ending a nearly 5-hour standoff during which Shears fired multiple times at law enforcement officers. Shears was wanted for his part in a Spokane Valley armed robbery that had occurred very shortly before his confrontation with police in downtown Spokane,” the prosecutor’s office said.
The Spokane Police Department has the second highest rate of police killings per population in the United States according to Mapping Police Violence US, an advocacy organization focused on police shootings.
In a press conference hosted by Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR) June 7, the organization criticized Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney for never leveling a charge against a police officer who shot a suspect during his tenure in office.
Haskel’s office concluded its announcement that no charges will be filed against the officers by offering additional context on Shears’ mental and physical state during the standoff.
“Shears had been armed with a Glock .45 caliber handgun. There was a live round in the chamber and the firearm contained a magazine with an additional live round inside. Blood toxicology testing showed alcohol, caffeine, ephedrine, phenylpropanolamine, amphetamine, and methamphetamine, in Shears’ system at the time of the incident,” the prosecutor’s office said.
