Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Suspect identified in fatal police shooting

From staff and wire reports
A police chase ended this morning with an officer fatally shooting a man in Spokane. The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed the identity of the man killed as Jacob I. Dorfman, 52. Dorfman, who had a history of eluding and assaulting police officers, died of gunshot wounds. Dispatchers received a call that shots had been fired near Eighth Avenue and Adams Street around 1:18 this morning, a news release from the Washington State Patrol said. An eyewitness who lives near the intersection said he saw a shirtless man pacing in the street and screaming for help before firing one shot from a handgun. The witness said he called 911, and dispatchers told him they already had officers responding. He said he saw an officer drive up to the intersection, identify himself as a police officer and ask the man with the gun to put his hands up. The suspect then fled on foot.

(SR Photo: Dan Pelle) The man got in a Jeep and sped away from the area with officers in pursuit. The suspect drove through several yards and fences, the news release said. The vehicle eventually stopped just north of the parking lot of Huckleberry’s market at Ninth Avenue and Monroe Street. Shots were fired and the male suspect was killed. Officers recovered a handgun at the scene.

(SR Photos: Tyler Tjomsland) The critical incident protocol was invoked and investigators from the Spokane Investigative Regional Response Team are at the scene. Additional information will be released by the WSP. No officers were injured. “This is happening too much, both in our community and the nation,” said Police Chief Frank Straub, who went to the scene to make a statement. “And I want to point out the bravery of our officers who didn’t hesitate to take action responding to a call where somebody had fired a weapon. It’s an unfortunate result, but this is what happens in our business.” Dirk Leach, who lives at Eighth and Monroe, said he thought he heard a man and woman arguing before the shots were fired. He said he heard two shots before the police arrived, then four shots shortly after the car crashed. Records show Dorfman was arrested in 2005 on two counts of third-degree assault of a law enforcement officer. A year earlier, he was arrested for eluding a police officer and unlawfully issuing bank checks and later sent to prison for robbery and burglary convictions out of Grant County. Also in 2005, he was fined $100,000 and ordered to serve 90 days in jail for working as an unlicensed contractor.

(SR Photo: Tyler Tjomsland)