911 call: Couple feared man on their porch would break down the door before shooting

The wife of a man who shot a neighbor through the storm door of the couple’s home earlier this year in north Spokane was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher when the shot was fired.

The Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office announced this week that Kevin Elliott, who is an assistant attorney general, was justified in shooting Jerry R. King, 39. The shooting occurred on Jan. 30 just outside the Elliotts’ home at 6516 N. Assembly St.

Investigators determined that King was intoxicated, shouting threats and trying to break into the Elliotts’ home when Elliott, 33, fired. King and his wife recently had moved into his mother-in-law’s home two doors from the Elliotts. King family members have said they disagree with Prosecutor Larry Haskell’s decision.

The 911 recordings from the incident were released on Wednesday.

Kevin Elliott’s wife, Christina Elliott, called 911 at 10:12 p.m. to report “somebody at our front door, somebody we don’t know.”

Only 29 seconds after the call began, Elliott shouted, “Oh my god! Gunshot!”

At first, she told the dispatcher she didn’t think the shot fired by her husband had hit the man. Then her husband confirmed that it had.

“Yeah, he hit him,” she told the dispatcher.

She said her husband did not recognize the man.

“Kevin said he was trying to break down the door,” Christina told the dispatcher. “He wouldn’t stop pounding and hitting on it.”

About 3 1/2 minutes after Elliott’s call came in, 911 received a call from King’s mother-in-law, Julie Scott.

“My daughter just came into the house. She had gone to go see about her husband and somebody shot him!”

King’s wife, in the background, shouted for emergency responders to hurry to the scene.

Elliott’s attorney Kevin Curtis said the shooting was not accidental and that Elliott gave King several warnings to leave.

“He thought the guy was breaking in to carry out his threats so he fired intentionally,” Curtis said.