Prosecutor rules police officer justified in shooting at West Wynn Motel
A Spokane police officer was justified in shooting a man who was pointing a realistic-looking BB gun at him, the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday.
Aaron Johnson was shot multiple times by Officer Shane Phillips inside the West Wynn Motel on May 2. Johnson survived and was treated at Sacred Heart Medical Center; he was jailed May 6 on assault charges.
Johnson had called 911 several times that day to say a roommate was threatening him with a knife and a gun, according to a news release. Phillips and Officer Stephen Anderson went to Johnson’s room and found him pointing a gun at them. They left and Phillips took cover in the hallway. Johnson followed and started down the hall, “with the gun in his hands and fully extended in a shooting position,” the news release said. Phillips told Johnson to stop and get on the floor, and fired when Johnson continued approaching him.
The prosecutor’s office said a note to Johnson’s mother was later found in his room giving instructions for his funeral. Police also didn’t find a roommate.
“Under these circumstances, it was reasonable for Officer Phillips to use deadly force,” the prosecutor’s office said in the news release.
Johnson had been shot by police once before, after wielding a knife outside the Truth Ministries shelter in January 2014. He was treated at Eastern State Hospital after that incident, and was released despite his parents’ desire for him to remain in treatment.