KENNEWICK — The three officers involved in the death of an unarmed Mexican man in Washington state fired 17 shots, including several that struck the former orchard worker but none that hit him in the back, a task force spokesman said Wednesday.
The regional law enforcement task force is investigating the Feb. 10 killing of Antonio Zambrano-Montes, which has led to weeks of protests and calls for a federal probe.
Kennewick police Sgt. Ken Lattin, a spokesman for the task force, said at a news conference that five or six bullets struck Zambrano-Montes. However, he said autopsy results were pending, and he couldn’t be more specific about where the 35-year-old was shot.
“There were no shots in the back,” Lattin said.
Video taken by a witness shows Zambrano-Montes running from officers. As the officers draw closer, he stops, turns and faced them. Multiple “pops” are heard, and then he falls to the ground.
Lattin said officers fired stun guns at least twice but failed to stop Zambrano-Montes before firing their weapons.
Zambrano-Montes was shot to death around 5 p.m. at a busy intersection in Pasco. His death has sparked two weeks of protests in this majority-Hispanic agricultural city along the Columbia River in the southeastern part of the state.
Authorities say the Mexican immigrant was throwing rocks at passing vehicles and later at responding officers. The Franklin County coroner has ordered an inquest into the death.
Federal authorities have said they are monitoring the local investigation. Lattin said it will be thorough and fair.
“We’re not here to cover up for anybody,” he told reporters.
Lattin said a rock was found next to Zambrano-Montes’ body, but no gun or knife.
Critics of the shooting continued to call for a federal investigation. The American Civil Liberties Union has also asked the federal government to intervene.
