Police identify officers who shot and killed a man at Shadle Center Walmart

The Spokane Police Department has released the names of the three officers involved in a shooting that killed a man in the parking lot of the Shadle Center Walmart on Oct. 4.

Sgt. Brian Eckersley, who did not fire his weapon but blocked 34-year-old Chad W. Cochell from leaving the parking lot, has been with the department since 2000. He’s received many awards during his employment with the department, police said in a news release, including the Police Chief’s Citation Award in 2009. He was promoted to sergeant in 2013.

Officer Darrel Quarles was hired in 2008 after being employed as a reserve officer for the Airway Heights Police Department and was an officer at the Cheney and Eastern Washington University Police Departments. According to police, he has several letter of commendation from supervisors and has received life-saving awards from the department in the past.

Officer Ryan Smith was hired in 2015. He worked as deputy with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office from 2001 to 2015.

None of the three officers has been identified in an officer-involved shooting in the past with the department, according to a search of the Spokesman-Review’s archives.

Officers Smith and Quarles shot and killed Cochell after he refused to exit a white Ford Explorer that had been stolen on Oct. 2.

Police have remained mum on the details of that theft, only saying that a person was hospitalized with at least two gun-shot wounds from Cochell during the carjacking.

Cochell was killed by rifle and shotgun fire to his chest and upper extremities, the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled. Police said he was armed at the time of the shooting.

Cochell has a long criminal history in Spokane County, including several violent offenses. In 2016, he pleaded guilty to reckless driving and eluding police. In 2009, he was sentenced to 17 days in jail for domestic violence and assault.