Spokane7
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August 25, 2010 in City
Slain security guard identified
A security officer doing his rounds in East Spokane was shot and killed Tuesday night after getting into a confrontation with a group of apartment residents sitting outside along their rear alley on the warm summer night.
George Hayek, 26, an officer for Securitas Security Services USA, died at the scene of the incident just before 11 p.m. He armed himself with a BB gun that looked like a semi-automatic handgun during the fatal confrontation.
The shooting occurred between a Pepsi bottling plant at 4014 E. Sprague Ave., and the Pacific Plaza Apartments, 4023 E. Pacific Ave.
A witness said the security guard pulled what appeared to be a weapon and was being the aggressor.
The guard reportedly had worked at the Premera Blue Cross campus, a short distance to the west, according to employees of that company who had received an email notifying them of the death.
The witness - one of the group relaxing at the rear of the apartments - said that the victim came driving down the alley, and he and others in the group feared he was involved in some kind of unsavory activity.
“Me and some friends were sitting at the picnic table out there and this car come by rolling real slow,” the witness said. He declined to give his name and added that the area has crime problems.
His companion yelled at the driver to take his business elsewhere, the witness said.
The uniformed security guard got out of his car and confronted the group. Words were exchanged, the witness said. They were separated by a chain-link fence running the length of the lot.
The guard returned to his vehicle and grabbed what appeared to be a semi-automatic weapon, police said in a news release. It turned out to be a BB gun that was made to look like a semi-automatic handgun, police said.
When the man returned to confront the group, gunfire erupted.
The friend in the group pulled a gun in response to the threat and fired several rounds, striking and killing Hayek, police said. The shooter’s name was not released, and he was not arrested.
“It happened that fast,” the witness said, snapping his fingers.
The shooter then jumped the fence and started CPR, the witness said.
Two police officers arrived and took over CPR until medics made it to the scene, police said.
“One minute you are sitting there minding your own business and the next thing you’re smelling gunpowder,” the witness said.
Hayek had been employed with Securitas since May. A vast majority of the 100,000 Securitas employees nationwide are not armed, a company spokeswoman said.
Returning farmland to a state of nature 
west on August 25 at 8:12 a.m.
Too much bad crime happening all over Spokane. Any reason? Or is it problem from the top down? A little SpoCompton right here in river city…
lewis8457 on August 25 at 8:58 a.m.
Too many petty crimes go un-checked in Spokane.
That in itself leads to more daring crimes.
The lack of good jobs could be the reason too. In yester years the youth would be working.
Sadly a man lost his life doing his duty and most likely for minimum wage.
Nugget on August 25 at 9:16 a.m.
Let’s blame it on the police.
It’s there fault that crime is going unchecked. After all, they have an abundance of officers available with all the funding & backing the city/county & the public give them.
horse_feathers on August 25 at 9:42 a.m.
Crime is going to happen, always has, aways will. Spokane’s police can only react for the most part, but is does not help that they have violated the citizens trust with cases like Shonto Pete and Otto Zehm. That’s why we get reactions like Lewis gave us.
I think the people of Spokane want to support SPD but they need to see a change and as long as people like Rocky Treppiedi and the Police Guild cover for the bad cops and hide the ball from the public when issues come up we are doomed to continue in the same direction.
Dazzeetrader1980 on August 25 at 10:31 a.m.
“Hide the ball” is about right Horse. They will NEVER be trusted again given what Kirkpatrick/Nicks and the union has done.
Verner’s owned by the Unions and she’ll always duck questions about inappropriate behavior ( ie like murder and violence) by the cops.
Too much money goes to the cops and not enough accountability. Hidden funds and no accountability.
This poor guy out on Sprague lost his life and for what?
At least one citizen was there and stayed to help. I’m sure the cops will find the group that did this…it’ll be delivered to them.
bdr on August 25 at 10:35 a.m.
Say goodbye to minimum wage if this keeps up.
Al_Loysius on August 25 at 2:37 p.m.
Unfortunately this forum allows people to make huge assumptions and make statements based on those assumptions.
Maybe it might be a good idea to wait for some facts to come ot first.
None of us really know what happened here.
JayNW on August 25 at 2:57 p.m.
from what I hear, the shooter was protecting someone else from the armed security guard. There’s a reason no one has been arrested yet.
mhb79 on August 25 at 4:13 p.m.
Seriously?!?! The Spokane Police had NOTHING to do with this horrible situation. I ask you this…if someone pointed a gun at you and you legally could carry a firearm by means of a concealed weapons permit…what would you do? Your life is now being threatened. This was in 2 words…..SELF DEFENSE. It is tragic, horribly tragic, but these people were doing nothing wrong. You cannot tell the difference betwee BB guns and real guns… STOP blaming the Spokane Police. Stop being ignorant, and copping out every time that our police dept. does everything wrong.
SpokaneLiberal on August 25 at 4:34 p.m.
I give good odds someone is charged with something, but probably not murder.
Anne_Observer on August 25 at 5:44 p.m.
I don’t know the fine details, and I don’t like to speak ill of the deceased. Nevertheless, pointing a BB gun that looks like a real gun at somebody is likely to get you shot for real. 99% of the time it’s an abysmally stupid thing to do.
Nugget on August 25 at 5:46 p.m.
mhb79 … . I was being sarcastic. Everything is blamed on the police!
maggie12 on August 25 at 7:03 p.m.
This is sad and a tragedy for the guards family and people involved in the shooting. But, you have to remember that the guard was in the wrong not once, but twice. If he was assigned to work at the Blue Cross office, then that is where his area of responsibility ends. He had no business in the alley, or anywhere off the property. Secondly, why the heck was he pulling a gun???
There should not be any charges pressed. If you read the article the SHOOTER was the one who performed CPR on the victim. He had no legal right, other than that of any other citizen, to patrol or harass anyone in the area. His job, as it is with any security guard, is to observe and report.
And, how is this in any way the fault and responsibility of the police. This was a security guard who obviously thought he was a cop. The shooter was threatened and acted in self defense.
hammer1969 on August 26 at 7:05 a.m.
Only going to get worse when they get rid of another 40 cops. Better all get your guns.
lewis8457 on August 26 at 8:36 a.m.
hell with 40 less cops we all will be safer.
mshayek on August 26 at 2:56 p.m.
This was my husband and father of our daughter. I can not get any confirmed facts from anyone. All I know is that my husband is not coming home, and my daughter does not have a father anymore. He was just trying to make a good living for us. Now, it has all been taken away……..
eagleproducer on August 27 at 9:13 a.m.
I’m extremely sorry for your loss mshayek and can only wish you’ll soon receive clarity into the events that led to the death of your husband.
Take_A_econd_Look on August 28 at 12:52 p.m.
The Spokesman Review and looks like most of those who have posted thus far are only taking the word of the “witnesses” as what happened. You people are passing judgement on a person that most of you have never met. I worked with this man, and work for their company.
Why hasn’t anyone asked why the shooter felt it necessary to shoot first when there was a chain link fence that separated the group from the obviously readily identifiable security guard? The shooter could have fled into the apartments.
Why would a security guard want to confront a group of unknown people in an alley?
Can anyone prove that the security guard actually produced the BB gun, or was it placed next to his body after the shooting? (other than taking the word of the “witnesses”)
If the group thought there was a drug deal about to happen, why didn’t someone call 911 and report it? Why did they feel it was necessary to confront the security guard?
Obviously many of you have never taken time to consider a more plausible alternative. I pray the shooter is arrested and charged to the fullest extent of the law. You deserve to be incarcerated for life.
Seems like most people want to blame the security guard, but when they are the victim they expect the security guard to be their first line of defense. What hypocrites!!!
My condolences to your family, Mrs. Hayeck.
(and YES the omission of the letter “S” is intentional)
sispo on August 29 at 6:03 p.m.
It’s sickening that someone might get away with this murder! That alley and the apartment behind it is drug and prostitute central! He made that route checking the area several times every night and they would have known the car. They should have been appreciative of his presence in that neighborhood. It’s obvious there is FAR more to this being covered up by the so-called witnesses. My money is on a drug deal interrupted and no eye witnesses to it wanted. I would hate to see this go unpunished and the shooter to walk away only to kill some other innocent person in the future.
Milan70 on August 30 at 9:19 p.m.
Well! So much for judgement. It seems everyone act as judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to a shooting.
DELTA on September 01 at 5:02 p.m.
Just need a few questions cleared up…
How long did it take for this group of individuals to call 911?
Were this young mans fingerprints in places where fingerprints tend to end up when you own a weapon, or just on the handle?
Were any of the witness not friends of the shooter?
I hope the fact that this young man was of middle eastern decent does not fog up the investigation.
bu55c on September 02 at 5:31 a.m.
I’m sorry for this guy’s wife. I am a security officer in the Spokane area and I have to say he went totally outside regulations. The company I work for would have fired him for carrying that BB gun in the first place. If it was going to escalate that far he should have resorted to his regulation duty tools and his radio. It is rash thinking and bravado that got him shot. The shooter as far as I see it isn’t guilty of anything but self defense as 75-90% of all security officers are unarmed and are not allowed to carry anything that even resembles a firearm. If the situation was that volatile he should have called for his Mobile Officer (who are generally armed officers) and PD, That is how a well trained security officer is supposed to handle a situation like that. The guys I work with that have to work downtown by the Plaza are always calling in code (elevated aggressive situation) with situations on a daily basis and usually have PD on site as well. You never try to handle a volatile group yourself.
DELTA on September 02 at 6:40 a.m.
Bu55c, your assuming the bb gun was the guards. I hope the truth is found and justice is served. There are many questions to be answered, this is far from an open an shut case. I pray the detectives are diligent and don’t take the word of friends of the killer.