January police shooting ruled justified

Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell has ruled that the shooting of Christopher Myers by Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Thurman in January was justified. Myers is accused of shooting at police before being shot himself. Thurman had pulled over a car at a gas station on Barker Road just north of Interstate 90 on January 30. Two women and Myers were inside. Another deputy and Liberty Lake Police Officer Jeff Jones arrived as backup. Shortly after Jones activated his body camera, Myers took off running with Thurman and Jones in pursuit. The three began fighting as Myers failed to comply with multiple commands to put his hands behind his back. Thurman’s police dog, Laslo, also joined the fray. WARNING: The video contains the audio of the actual shooting, the cries of the man who was shot and verbal profanity. Haskell said in a written statement that Thurman felt a metal object during the fight and thought Myers might have a gun, so he released his dog. As soon as the dog bit Myers he fired his gun at officers. “Deputy Thurman then heard a gunshot and felt the percussion on his hands and lower body, as well as seeing smoke near the same area that Myers had been trying to reach with his hands,” Haskell said. “He felt that Myers had just tried to kill him.” Thurman shot Myers once in the abdomen. A .22 caliber handgun, two .22 caliber shell casings and a .45 caliber shell casing were recovered at the scene. “Under these circumstances, it was reasonable for Deputy Thurman to use deadly force,” Haskell said. Myers spent several weeks in the hospital recovering from his gunshot wound and several dog bites. He is being held in the Spokane County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bond on two charges of first-degree assault.