SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane County Prosecutor announced Wednesday that two police officers acted justifiably when they fatally shot a man who threatened officers with a knife in downtown Spokane earlier this year.
According to the press release, no criminal charges will be filed against Spokane Police Officers Lee Barker and Seth Wolfe for the February 12 shooting that resulted in the death of Oscar Venegas.
Venegas had told his Department of Corrections supervisor by phone that he had been drinking and wanted “suicide by cop” shortly before the incident.
An off-duty Deputy U.S. Marshal witnessed Venegas place a knife to a security officer’s throat downtown and intervened.
When police arrived, Venegas briefly dropped his knife but picked it up again after taser attempts failed. He then moved toward officers, who responded with lethal force.
According to the press release a toxicology report showed Venegas had a blood alcohol level of 0.26.
The Spokane Independent Investigative Response Team conducted the investigation.
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