Prosecutor declines to file charges against officers who killed man while holding toddler, knife in January

The officers who shot and killed a man while he was holding a toddler and a knife in January at his Spokane home will not be charged, the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office announced Friday.

Spokane Police Officer Corrigan Mohondro and Cpl. Brandon Lynch were justified in their use of deadly force against Peterson Kamo, who officers thought was trying to kill a young toddler when they shot him, the prosecutor’s office wrote in a statement Friday.

The Spokane Police Department released body camera footage of the shooting last month. In the footage, Kamo can be seen holding the toddler, his nephew, and a knife.

Kamo’s family, who are from the Marshall Islands, filed a tort claim, a necessary step before filing a lawsuit, against the city alleging police didn’t take the time to fully understand the situation and misunderstood what was happening due to a language barrier.

The prosecutor’s office said the officers were justified in using deadly force because they were “attempting to rescue a child from imminent danger of death or great bodily harm while in the hand of Peterson Kamo.”