Spokane Police Department identifies officers involved in downtown shootout
SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane Police Department has identified the four officers who were involved in a fatal shooting in downtown Spokane earlier this week.
Officer Jacob Siegel, Officer Scott Lesser, Corporal Brandon Lynch and Corporal Robert Riggles all fired shots during the incident on East 3rd Avenue on Wednesday morning.
The incident began as a robbery in Spokane Valley. Two men, Christopher A. Jomes and Christopher B. Gooch, are accused of robbing 58-year-old man Scott Banchero at a local motel.
When responding to the robbery call, authorities followed the two suspects downtown, where they were eventually arrested and taken into custody. The third suspect, Dominic, refused to cooperate, according to SPD Chief Craig Meidl. Shears drove away and crashed near 2nd and Spokane.
Meidl said officers tried multiple times to communicate with Shears, resulting in the use of pepper ball rounds, flash bangs and other gas canisters by officers on Shears.
He threw them out of the vehicle, and officers exchanged gunfire with Shears, who was killed.
It is not clear whose shot killed Sears. All four officers involved are on administrative leave.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office named the detective who was involved in the shooting on Friday.
RELATED: Spokane Co. Sheriff’s Office names detective involved in deadly shootout with suspect
READ: Court records detail what led to robbery, police shooting in downtown Spokane
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