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July 10, 2009 in City
Spokane Police kill knife-wielding man
Investigators from the Spokane Police Department and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department examine the scene and cover the body of a man shot by police Friday, July 10, 2009, in north Spokane. JESSE TINSLEY jesset@spokesman.com
(Full-size photo)(All photos)
A large knife, a skateboard and a pit bull all figured into a bizarre string of crimes that ended when a man was shot and killed by police officers in northeast Spokane Friday morning.
Jason Poss, 23, was shot to death after police said he refused orders to stop and drop the knife he was carrying. He threatened a police officer in a patrol car with the knife, police said, and two officers who were on foot shot him.
An officer suffered minor injuries in his vehicle at the scene. Tara Tanner, 34, of 1328 E. Glass, was treated and released from Holy Family for injuries suffered in an assault after the suspect kicked in her door.
A witness questioned whether police employed excessive force against the suspect, saying Poss was knocked to the ground by one shot, but police continued to fire.
The shooting is being investigated by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department, which is standard procedure when city police are involved in a shooting.
Sheriff Sgt. David Reagan said the string of events began shortly before 8:30 a.m., when a woman on the 1200 block of East Gordon reported a man with a skateboard had tried to kick in her door. He couldn’t get it open, and left. Minutes later, police received another call reporting a woman had been assaulted and a dog stabbed at a home near East Glass and North Perry.
Michael Baesman was asleep in the basement of the house on East Glass when he heard Tanner yelling, “Michael, Michael, please come help me. There’s someone in the house.”
Baesman said when he got upstairs, a man he had never seen before pulled out a large knife, possibly a butcher or kitchen knife.
The man never said anything, even after Baesman asked what he was doing.
Baesman said he, Tanner and two others who were in the home ran out the back door and into the fenced backyard. When they tried to climb the fence, it broke and Tanner fell, cutting her leg and hurting her shoulder; while she was on the ground, the assailant beat her several times with his skateboard, Baesman said.
A black female pit bull then approached the assailant, who stabbed her in the back and back leg, according to owner Vince Smith, who is Tanner’s son and one of the occupants of the house. The dog, named Molly, ran away bleeding, and wasn’t found until about 2:30 p.m., some eight blocks from the house. Detectives took her to a veterinarian for treatment, and Reagan said the dog’s medical records will become evidence in the investigation.
After the dog was stabbed, the assailant briefly chased Smith down East Courtland, but Smith said he ducked between houses and the assailant didn’t follow him. The assailant began walking calmly down Courtland, Smith said.
During the entire time, the assailant never spoke, and Smith speculated that he was on drugs: “His eyes were big, he never blinked.”
Police responding to 9-1-1 calls from the two incidents saw a man walking east on Courtland with a skateboard and a knife in his hands. They used a series of “stop and confront” maneuvers, Reagan said, ordering him to halt. Instead, he walked or ran away each time.
About a half block from North Napa, Poss approached an officer in a patrol car and began making stabbing motions, Reagan said. Two officers who were out of their vehicles fired.
Jason Leonard, who lives on the 1800 block of East Courtland where the shooting occurred, said he was in his bedroom Friday morning when he heard short blasts of police sirens coming up the street. He heard one shot, and looked out his window.
A man was on the ground, and a knife was on the ground near him. He saw five or six officers and heard five shots, but wasn’t sure how many officers fired.
“They had him incapacitated,” Leonard said. “They pretty much annihilated him.”
Jennifer Sheldon, Leonard’s girlfriend, said she was in the carport of the home when she heard the sirens. As she peeked around the corner of the house, she saw the man from the back and heard an officer say “drop the knife.” A shot was fired and she felt something hit her leg; she ducked back around the house and heard five more shots.
Neither Leonard nor Sheldon heard the man say anything.
Al Piper, who lives with his wife about two blocks from where police confronted the suspect, said they heard a noise that sounded like firecrackers about 8:30 a.m. “The dogs went wild,” Piper said.
Candy Reichman, who lives across street and a few doors down from where the man was shot, said she was sitting in her living room and talking on the phone when she heard loud noises that she assumed were gunshots.
“I opened my front door and saw the body and hoped it was a Taser” that caused him to be on the ground, Reichman said. The south Hillyard neighborhood once had a problem with drugs and gangs but improved in recent years and “there’s never been a shooting,” she said.
Because the shooting involves city police officers, department protocol turns the investigation over to the sheriff’s department. Names of the officers involved will be withheld for 72 hours as part of that protocol.
Detectives spent most of the day talking to witnesses, but Reagan said it’s possible that they may have missed some. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233
Romney/Paul split weighing on county GOP 
eagleproducer on July 10 at 11:02 a.m.
Here we go again…
Ron_the_Cop on July 10 at 12:26 p.m.
Spoketucky,
Not so fast yet. I’m concerned that the officer who was stabbed may have hesitated and allowed the suspect to gain an advantage. A suspect with a knife willing to use it, can close rapidly on a officer before an officer can react to counter. This is the real world and not the mythical world of TV where cops can wing suspects running at fifty yards.
Look I’m not the biggest fan of Spokane PD but I am understanding of what it takes to be a good street cop. Chill for awhile until all the facts are known.
zelda on July 10 at 1:25 p.m.
It’s a shame this happened on the same day that the S-R published an editorial about the Hillyard Renaissance.
Latest info. says the female officer was not stabbed but a later graf says she was. I guess the details haven’t been sorted out yet. Sounds like a very complicated crime scene.
cheddar on July 10 at 1:32 p.m.
Just think of all the money we the taxpayers will save not having to drag this dirtbag through the courts for the next 12 years.
Erik_T on July 10 at 4:10 p.m.
hahah cheddar.
This sounds like suicide by cop to me. The fellow that was killed may have been out of his mind.
karl2002 on July 10 at 4:16 p.m.
For a minute there cheddar, I thought you were talking about the cost of defending and prosecuting the officer. LOL - Its nice to see SPD go after armed criminals this time around.
hayden14x on July 10 at 6:23 p.m.
as an eye witness, i can tell you anything firsthand. it happened right outside my house
hayden14x on July 10 at 6:34 p.m.
the kid, well actualy he was twenty three, was shot 6 times on the sidewalk outside our house. the first shot knocked him to the ground, then they fired 5 more shots. it is riddiculus that they would go that far, although he was weilding a 12 inch butcher knife. they first tried to hit him with a taser, which he deflected with his skateboard. he then was surrounded by 5 spokane’s finest….. or so we thought. my mom was actualy hit by one of the bullet shrappnels.if you have any questions, you can contact me at hayden14x@live.com or just leave your questions on this comment page
Ron_the_Cop on July 10 at 6:56 p.m.
Hayden,
Five shots may sound like a lot but most police agencies now carry semi-auto weapons. In our range training will always were instructed to shoot three round bursts and reassess the situation. It became almost automatic and muscle memory. So if two officers were firing - six shots would not be uncommon.
This sounds like a very unfortunate situation e.g, suicide by cop or drug induced psychosis/paranoia. Unfortunately we don’t have phasers like they had on STAR TREK. I’m sure what was going through the officers’ minds if this suspect was able to break free he might flee into another house and present an armed hostage situation.
zelda on July 10 at 6:59 p.m.
I’m not a cop and I don’t know what the protocols are, but couldn’t they have shot him in the foot or leg so he couldn’t leave the scene? Five to six shots appears to be a massive overreaction. There’s a suspect (now dead) high on drugs and a police force high on adrenaline. Dangerous combination.
George_Sands on July 10 at 7:05 p.m.
Per ron the cop.
Shoot three times at the perp if you want me,
Once on the pipes if the answer is no….
westside on July 10 at 7:45 p.m.
Getting quite nasty in Spokane last couple of months…….hope it goes away.
Ron_the_Cop on July 10 at 8:17 p.m.
LOL George:-)
nslopeofw on July 10 at 10:43 p.m.
Bottom line here is had this guy not been stopped, and killed a civilian, there would have been hell to pay. If he had been wounded, he probably would have sued the city, and the would have been more hell to pay.
Like spoketucky, i too am not a big fan of SPD, but this one looks justified.
princezoltan on July 11 at 12:37 a.m.
Zelda Krup you have been watching a little to much TV, a Police officer is trained to shoot for center mass so they don’t miss and when they shoot they shoot to kill not to wound.
1960 on July 11 at 7:04 a.m.
The police shoot to kill. It is in their job description to do just that and that is why there is never any live victim to tell their side of the story. Dead men tell no lies or truths, like why they do not surrender or what was up with the erratic behavior?
KeivenGilham on July 11 at 10:31 a.m.
My Friends and I personally knew Poss he was a great kid and had wonderful parents. People can say any mean things they like if it makes them feel better you never knew him and I am sorry for that he would have givin anyone the shirt off his back.It is sad to see him go out like this, we will truely miss this free spirited young man.
May You rest in Peace Poss!!Love you kid!
mm on July 12 at 8:03 a.m.
What am I missing?
From what I’ve read, the victim made a “stabbing motion” toward an officer in a car.
Then was shot once and fell to the ground losing control of his “weapons”(skateboard and knife).
So … he’s lying on the gound, weaponless, non-threatening…. and our police department deems it necessary to shoot him 5 MORE times?!?!?!? until he’s dead? What exactly are the officers afraid he’s going to do?
I don’t buy the “gotta shoot towards body mass” stuff. Sorry. These officers, in my opinion, should be trained to do more than “hunt”. Shooting towards body mass is something you do when you’re hunting bear. Not subduing a skateboard wielding man.
Even with a knife …. this poor man was out-numbered 30-1.
And the 30, unfortunatley, were the overzealous, gun-toting, SPD.
May he rest in peace. His family won’t.
jesday on July 12 at 10:11 a.m.
The photo shows his body on a sidewalk. Did his body roll down there from the street after he was shot? I’m just curious as to how far away from the officer was he when he made the “stabbing motion.” The first story said the officer was stabbed. Now that would have made it justifiable to shoot him. I’m just not sure about a stabbing motion made out of range of being able to actually inflict a wound being reason enough to pump five bullets into him.
I think there is more to the story.
Genevon on July 13 at 10:15 a.m.
Jim C. (columnist) said, “… nothing that would predict the violence that led to Friday’s shooting” when you talked about the perp’s past. You obviously were not aware that this man attacked and tried to kill a woman and her two dogs recently. He stabbed them all and beat them with his skateboard. I would say that unprovoked attempted murder of a woman and her two dogs DOES predict the violence that led to Friday’s shooting. And I would also say that the police should be commended for not taking unnecessary chances with this violent crazy man!
Miss Genevon Hinseth
Genevon on July 13 at 10:21 a.m.
Personally, I REJOICED when I read that this man was killed and not just wounded. Not only saving us the trouble of trying to take him through the court system and get him into prison where he belongs. But also eliminating the opportunity for him to do more of the same or worse damage later! THANK YOU, SPOKANE POLICE! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
Genevon
benjibear on July 13 at 6:35 p.m.
Come on Spokane!!!! spokane’s finest are you kidding me!!!! they are nothing but commen criminals….crooked son’s of bithches my dad was a police detective for 30 years in another state and the police here make him embaressed to even say he was a cop. They could of stopped him easy. 6 shot’s fired Bulls..t. I am tired of these spokane Judges letting these crooked cops off.These cop’s need to be stopped. How many people do they need to kill.
Bob_Knows on July 14 at 7:50 a.m.
No arrest. No trial. No jury of his peers.
The only “trial” this man got was another gun load of lead after he was already face down on the pavement. Assassination by Mayor Whiner’s gang of gun thugs is “justice” in the Lilac City.
They are doing exactly what they are hired to do: terrorize, kill, rob, and control the people of Spokane.
We don’t want them. We don’t need them. And WE THE PEOPLE would all be a lot better off if the lot of them were rounded up and run out of town on a rail.
benjibear on July 14 at 10:27 a.m.
o.k your washington state people are so backwood’s.1st since when did a bunch of inbred backwood’s trailer trash become judge and jury??? Your cop’s are crooked because you let them be.Learn the law.
2nd-you do not know what this kid was going through. Maybe he had some sort of mental disorder you do not know.And do not say 1 less crazy person because i was told by a doctor right here in Spokane that 63% of spokane cop’s have A.D.H.D so is that kinda not like crazy judging crazy?????
3rd-because you wear a badge des not mean you have the right to kill..they were not afraidfor there life i promise you that..they had crappy police training and joe blow off the street could be a cop here.
i mean come on people what was the add that ran in the paper when Spokane valley became it’s own city??? here let me remind you.
NOW HIRING SPOKANE VALLEY SHERIFF…HIGH SCHOOL DIP OR G.E.D…YEA THE ONLY THING YOU HAD TO HAVE HELLO OH YEA IT ALSO SAID ON THE JOB TRAINING…THAT WHO IS PROTECTING YOU PEOPLE PLEASE GET A CLUE.wher i am from you went to a poice acadamy.
this kid’s life was taken by criminal’s in uniform.
All of the spokane citizen’s should feel guilty for this kid’s death it’s your ignorance hat keep’s your FINEST crooked.So it was your ignorance that another inoccent person is killed by a police man’s gun…in a small town come on i am from a bg city and we do not have this many cop’s killing people……..
yumagene on July 14 at 1:44 p.m.
“crooked officer, crooked officer,
it’s time to put your a$$ in a coffin, sir
cuz you done f’d with people like me for too long
it’s time to grab a mother f’n 9 and get it on…”
The Ghetto Boys
torawduck on July 15 at 12:20 a.m.
Boys will be boys and pigs with guns and a badge WILL shoot when scared, if ever so slightly. I thought our pigs had stun guns or did another “officer” whish to get a notch on their pistol. Does Ubberfurer Annie give bonuses for kills?
Being mentally ill, I’m afraid to leave home least a pig will pull me over for being a disabled Army Vet over 55. I wonder how many points we older army vets get a pig?
Go to the VA and ask a Spokane Vet what they think of cops. The answers will astound you. We rate them 2 steps below a leach.