Man shot and killed by Spokane police early Sunday morning identified
The man who was shot and killed by police early Sunday morning has been identified as Dexter Martin Dumarce, 33.
Dumarce died from four gunshot wounds, according to the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Dumarce was shot and killed after he apparently led police on a foot chase from the South Hill toward downtown starting at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. According to a police news release, Dumarce was stopped in the area of Ninth Avenue and Adams Street, a “high crime area,” because he was acting “suspicious.”
Dumarce pulled a knife on the officers and fled on foot, according to a police news release. Police say they first used Tasers, which didn’t stop Dumarce.
The chase ended on Fifth and Walnut, where Dumarce ran toward occupied vehicles stopped a street light at about 1 a.m. An officer shot Dumarce, a police news release states.
A resident who lives on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Cedar Street said he saw three or four police officers chasing after Dumarce with their guns and Tasers drawn. He said he followed them to where Dumarce was shot and saw a “clearly distraught” officer being led into a parked SUV.
“I didn’t get a good look at the guy,” he said of Dumarce. “But he was wearing winter clothes. He was bundled up.”
The identity of the officer involved in the shooting has not been released. A spokesperson for the Spokane Police Department was not immediately available for comment.
Dumarce has a lengthy criminal history, including prior felony convictions in Spokane County for kidnapping, rape, and possessing stolen property. Dumarce was forced to register as a sex offender in 2006.
The officers on scene were wearing body cameras. The footage will be reviewed during the investigation.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation under the Spokane Investigative Regional Response protocol, which calls for multiple law enforcement agencies in Eastern Washington to investigate officer-involved shootings.
The incident is the first officer-involved killing in the Spokane area since April, when a man was shot and killed outside of the House of Charity. Spokane County prosecutors ruled the shooting justified in June.