Officer in fight named

The decorated Spokane police sergeant who shot and killed a man Saturday morning east of downtown after a fight is Daniel Torok.

Law enforcement sources say Torok, a 16-year department veteran, is on administrative leave after being treated at a hospital.

Pictures of his bloodied face and skinned-up knuckles were run Saturday and Sunday by The Spokesman Review and local television stations even as officials declined to release his name or the identity of the man he shot and killed.

Torok, who was unavailable for comment, is considered a distinguished officer who received the Silver Star for his role in a 2002 gunbattle at the Intermodal Center, in which two people fired guns – including an assault rifle and a pistol – at a police officer, before being captured by Torok and others.

The sergeant has also earned a bit of attention on a range of issues, including ticketing cars that were parked on the grass at Audubon Park during a concert and busting a man for crack-cocaine possession after the drugs fell from his pocket at a fast-food restaurant in front of a crowd of surprised witnesses, including police.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is handling the investigation. It has said only that Torok tried to confront the man after observing some type of suspicious behavior, but has declined to elaborate.

Investigators also have not identified the dead man, who, according to police, had fled, then punched Torok in the face before the officer opened fire.

Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan said Torok radioed for help twice from the area about a block off of busy Second Avenue near the intersection of Short Avenue and Cowley Street.

Reagan declined to discuss details of the probe and said investigators are still trying to identify the dead man, then inform his relatives.

A bystander took pictures at the scene showing Torok with blood running down his chin and talking with other police officers.

According to police reports, Torok saw what he described as suspicious activity. When he attempted to question a suspect, the man ran. Torok caught him and the two fought.

A medical examiner is scheduled to perform an autopsy on the man this morning.

Meanwhile, the episode could result in Spokane’s first coroner’s inquest in a quarter century.

Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker promised last year that he would ask the county medical examiner to convene a coroner’s inquest any time police are involved in a death.

He was unable to be reached for comment Sunday.

But when announcing his desire for future inquests in August, Tucker said it could help restore public faith in how investigations into police-related violence are handled.

“The main purpose of the coroner’s inquest is not only to determine if something wrongful happened,” Tucker said at the time, “but to get it out in the public view.”