WA Cops Shoot and Kill Man at Busy Intersection…and You Won’t Believe Why

On Tuesday night in Pasco, Washington, a homeless man was shot and killed by police.

His crime? Throwing rocks and running from police.

The man, 35-year-old Antonio Zambrano-Montes, was reportedly throwing rocks at cars at a busy intersection. Authorities said the man hit two police officers with stones and refused to comply with their orders.

From the Chicago Tribune:

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.

There are at least two witness videos.

One witness, Dario Infante, 21, of Pasco, recorded video from a vehicle about 50 feet away as the scene unfolded.

In an email interview, he told the Chicago Tribune that 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.

Here’s the video Infante recorded:

A longer video uploaded to YouTube by Troy Waechter shows more detail of the aftermath of the shooting.

In the first video, notice that Zambrano-Montes had turned to face officers with his hands in front of him – and clearly was NOT holding a gun – when he was shot multiple times.

So, here we have two videos of multiple officers shooting a fleeing man at busy intersection with innocent bystanders everywhere.

Because a man was throwing rocks and running from them.

Just…brilliant.

Endangering the lives of people at that intersection over…rock-throwing.

I’m sorry – I’m just trying to wrap my head around this.

Other witnesses spoke to the Chicago Tribune:

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.”

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.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Chief Metzger said he backs the three officers involved in the shooting — Ryan Flanagan, Adam Wright and Adrian Alaniz, reports the Tri-City Herald:

“We always stand behind our officers unless they are proven (wrong),” Metzger said. “We are at this point doing a thorough investigation. If the officers are wrong they will be dealt with accordingly. If they are not wrong, that will also come out.”

The Tri-City Special Investigative Unit (which does not include Pasco police) is investigating the shooting and the Franklin County prosecutor will ultimately determine if the officers were justified.

The three officers have been placed on leave while the investigation is conducted.

Within the last six months, Pasco officers have been cleared in four other shootings, which left four men dead.

Additional Resources:

Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces

Police State – Ten Secrets The Police Don’t Want You To Know! “How To Survive Police Encounters!”

Anti Police Brutality Political T-shirt