Man who shot at Spokane police before being struck himself sentenced to 20 years in prison

A 36-year-old man who exchanged gunfire with police nearly three years ago in downtown Spokane was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in federal prison for the drug-related shootout.

Israel Garcia, a gang member in the Yakima area, came to Spokane Oct. 16, 2022, to deliver 10,000 fentanyl pills, according to a news release from Eastern Washington’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Members of the Spokane Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit, Violent Crimes Task Force and SWAT and federal agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration had planned to intercept an incoming major narcotics delivery that day, according to a Spokane County news release last year.

Late that morning, a black Chrysler 300 pulled in front of an apartment building on First Avenue and Cedar Street. Garcia, whose identity was unknown to police at the time, was in the front passenger seat. Multiple police units moved in to pin the vehicle to avoid a high-speed chase, the county wrote.

After blocking the Chrysler’s escape, officers got out of their vehicles and ordered the vehicle occupants to show their hands. Garcia got out and fired multiple shots at police, injuring one of the officers, according to court records. Police returned fire and shot Garcia.

Garcia’s bullets were directed at officers, but they were also fired in the direction of his vehicle, which contained several people, including a child, federal prosecutors said. One of Garcia’s rounds would have struck an officer in the head, but a car door window redirected the round.

That officer still sustained injuries to his head and face, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

No one else was injured.

The county prosecutor’s office ruled the seven officers who shot at Garcia acted appropriately.

Garcia pleaded guilty to discharge of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. U.S. Chief District Judge Stanley Bastian handed down the two-decade sentence.

Garcia was convicted in 2015 of assaulting federal officers related to a drug and firearm trafficking investigation and sentenced to 7 years in federal prison. Garcia was released in 2021 and deported to Mexico. He unlawfully returned to the U.S. in 2022 .

“We have zero tolerance for dangerous offenders like Garcia who pose an immediate threat to our community and our law enforcement partners,” said Pete Serrano, interim Eastern Washington U.S. attorney. “Garcia opened fire on the police in the streets of Spokane, attempting to strike several police officers. It is unconscionable that he engaged in this behavior after having just been released from prison for the same kind of violent conduct.”

For the 2022 shootout, Bastian also ordered Garcia to pay more than $6,000 in restitution to Spokane police.

Garcia will face state charges in relation to shooting at police.

“Mr. Garcia was a menace to our community, both because of his fentanyl trafficking as well as his violent behavior,” David Reames, special agent in charge of the DEA in the Seattle office, said in the release. “Prison is clearly the right place for him, and I am proud that DEA and our partners could facilitate his lengthy incarceration.”