One charged in fatal north Spokane shooting

Dumont P. Whitt was charged with second-degree murder Friday for the alleged shooting and killing of his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, Michael L. Shackelford, Thursday night in north Spokane.

According to a police report, Whitt said Shackelford showed up to Whitt’s girlfriend’s apartment in the 200 block of East Wedgewood Avenue around 11:30 p.m. Opening the door, Whitt fired, striking Shackelford multiple times.

Whitt, 42, fled the scene, police said, and Shackelford, 33, was transported to a hospital where he later died.

Authorities soon found Whitt at 3800 E. Euclid Ave. Police said Whitt emerged from a yard with his hands up, saying “I should have called the cops.”

Whitt told police Shackelford threatened to kill him a week earlier.

Shackelford and Whitt’s girlfriend, Guadalupe Cloud, have a child together, Cloud told police.

On Feb. 24, Cloud said, Shackelford punched her several times. She didn’t report the incident to authorities.

When Whitt called Shackelford to confront him about the alleged assault of his girlfriend, Shackelford threatened to kill him, Whitt told police. In response, Whitt, a convicted felon, illegally obtained a Glock .40 for protection.

Keman Rhone, who described himself as a friend of Shackelford’s, told police he dropped Shackelford off at the Wedgewood Apartments on Thursday night so he could see his child. Moments after dropping him off, Rhone said, he heard a series of gunshots and saw Shackelford on the ground.

Whitt told officers a series of factors prompted him to bring his gun to the door Thursday night: the man at the door was wearing a hood over his head, the late-night hour of the arrival and the recent threats he had received from Shackelford.

Cloud told police she heard two gunshots but didn’t see the shooting because she was in her child’s bedroom.

A juvenile witness told police Whitt gave her a gun inside a sock following the shooting and told her to hide it in a nearby dumpster, where it later was found by authorities.

Whitt appeared in court Friday afternoon, where his bond was set at $750,000. His felony history includes second-degree assault and several other felonies, police said.

In 2011, Whitt was involved in another incident in which he stabbed his then-girlfriend’s estranged husband.