Justice Department won’t charge 3 Washington state officers who fatally shot man after he threw rocks at them

Reporting from Seattle —  Three police officers in a small Washington state town who fatally shot an unarmed man after he threw rocks at them will not be charged with any federal crimes, the U.S. Department of Justice said, though a state coroner’s inquest has yet to be conducted.

The Pasco, Wash., officers lacked the “willfulness…to do something the law forbids” when they shot Antonio Zambrano-Montes last year, said Michael Ormsby, the U.S. attorney in Spokane.

Ormsby’s office said in a statement this week that “mistake, misperception, negligence, or poor judgment are not sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation” in the Feb. 10, 2015, death of the 35-year-old farm worker. Earlier, the county prosecutor in Pasco announced his office would not charge the officers with any state violations.

It was not known why Zambrano-Montes, who migrated illegally from Mexico around 2006 to work at Columbia Basin farms and orchards, threw rocks at the officers. He was high on meth, police said, when he was hit by up to a half-dozen bullets after the officers caught up to him on a busy street. They fired 17 shots during the encounter, including 12 from a few feet away, officials and witnesses said.

A dramatic cellphone video taken by witness Dario Zunig from his stopped car showed Zambrano-Montes running, possibly limping, as he crossed a street with officers in close pursuit. They had fired an initial volley when the suspect tossed large rocks at them and ran off.

In the video, Zambrano-Montes’ hands appear to briefly go up as he trots along a sidewalk next to a café. He looks back, still moving, then halts and turns, hands outstretched in front of him as the officers run up and open fire.

Police had said “five or six rounds” struck Zambrano-Montes. Officials were uncertain of the number because autopsy results didn’t agree. The county autopsy concluded he was hit five times.

Two separate autopsies, authorized by Zambrano-Montes’ widow and parents, who are suing Pasco for wrongful death, found another wound, to the back, according to their Seattle attorney Charles Herrmann.

Under federal law, Ormsby said, use of deadly force is justified when an officer has probable cause to believe a suspect poses threat of serious physical harm. An FBI investigation turned up “no reliable testimonial or physical evidence that refutes the accounts provided by the officers that they believed the force they used was necessary to protect themselves and to stop a perceived threat,” his office said in a news release.

“Our thoughts remain with Mr. Zambrano-Montes’ family and friends,” Ormsby said. “I cannot fathom how painful their loss has been.”

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Agapita Montes Rivera, Zambrano-Montes’ mother, said in a statement released by Herrmann, “Videos clearly show police firing many shots at Antonio, wounding him in his right arm and chest as he tried to run away. When he turned to surrender, they shot him to death. Where is justice for my son?”

Two of the Pasco officers, Adrian Alaniz and Adam Wright, remain on the force. The third, Ryan Flanagan, resigned last July. They still face questioning at a civil trial and are likely to be called to testify at a public inquest. Franklin County Coroner Dan Blasdel had been forced to delay the inquest while he battled with county officials over its need and cost. A hearing date is still in flux.

Anderson is a special correspondent.

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