Prosecutor says officers were justified in fatal shooting at Shadle Center Walmart

The Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office says two police officers acted appropriately when they shot and killed an armed carjacking suspect in the Shadle Center parking lot in early October.

Authorities said Kerry L. Arnold was shot at least twice when his white Ford Explorer was stolen Oct. 2 in northeast Spokane. At the time, police said the victim was hospitalized in critical condition but did not release his name.

According to a news release from the prosecutor’s office, Spokane police Officer Mark Brownell spotted the Explorer at about 4:48 p.m. on Oct. 4 – two days after it was stolen – in the parking lot in front of the Shadle Center Walmart. There was a woman in the front passenger seat and a man, later identified as 34-year-old Chad K. Cochell, in the driver’s seat.

“Due to the circumstances in which the vehicle was stolen, police developed a plan to block the (Explorer’s) path to minimize the likelihood of an escape, which could lead to a dangerous high-speed chase,” the news release said. “Several police vehicles were positioned to prevent the Explorer and Cochell from escaping the area.”

Cochell stepped on the gas pedal and rammed a police vehicle that was positioned directly in front of the Explorer, the news release said. Officers then approached the Explorer on foot.

The news release said that Cochell was “moving around in the vehicle” and holding a gun to his head, and he ignored multiple commands to drop it. There is no indication he pointed the gun at other people, but officers determined he was a danger to them as well as shoppers in the parking lot, the news release said.

Officer Ryan Smith fired one shot with a rifle, and Officer Darrell Quarles fired twice with a shotgun, the news release said. First responders attempted to revive Cochell, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. The medical examiner’s office said he died of rifle and shotgun wounds to his chest and upper extremities.

In ruling the shooting justified, Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell determined that “there is no indication either Officer Smith or Officer Quarles acted out of malice or lacked a good-faith belief in the correctness of their actions.”

Editor’s note: This story was changed on Jan. 30, 2018. A previous version erroneously indicated that the carjacking victim, Kerry L. Arnold, had died. Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell took blame for the error, saying he had misread a detective’s report.