Police identify officers involved in fatal shooting

Spokane police on Thursday released the names of five officers involved in last week’s fatal North Side shooting of armed robbery suspect Stephen C. Corkery.

They are Sgts. John Roys and Kevin Keller, and Officers Paul Buchmann, Sean Wheeler and Art Dollard.

The shooting at 1527 W. Grace Ave. happened when police attempted to arrest Corkery following a string of 10 robberies of small businesses, including a coffee stand and ice cream parlor just blocks away.

The robberies occurred from Feb. 17 through March 24, two days before Corkery died.

Police tracked down Corkery after pulling over a white SUV matching the description of a vehicle seen at several of the robberies. They questioned the driver, who told officers that Corkery was giving her heroin, cigarettes and gas money to use the vehicle.

After finding Corkery at the home on West Grace, officers tried to negotiate his surrender. Corkery emerged from the front door holding a weapon at his side.

Officers opened fire within a few seconds. Corkery died at the hospital.

It turned out the weapon was a pellet gun.

Investigators recovered 14 shell casings, four bullets and several pieces of a cellphone, court documents said.

The officers have years of experience with the SPD, including Roy with 21 years on the force; Keller, 14 years; Buchmann, 11 years; Wheeler, seven years; and Dollard, six years.

The case was turned over to the Spokane Investigative Regional Response team, who by protocol look into officer-involved shootings.

The robberies linked to Corkery occurred at Mug Shots, 1717 W. Garland Ave.; three holdups at Jitterz Java, 2135 W. Northwest Blvd.; Subway shops at 1710 N. Hamilton St., 6420 N. Nevada St. and 2503 W. Wellesley Ave.; Deb’s Espresso, 921 E. Houston Ave.; Baskin-Robbins, 1925 N. Monroe St.; and Sunny Buns Tanning Salon, 2821 E. 27th Ave.