SPOKANE, Wash.– The Spokane Police Department released three body camera videos Tuesday that showed a deadly police shooting.
The shooting shown happened in January. It took seven months to get the video because they aren’t usually released until an independent investigation is done. This one took all that time because of the number of interviews and footage that needed to be looked at.
The body cam videos show what happened the night Shawn McCoy was shot, Jan. 5, 2021. Police say said they were looking for him because he was accused of shooting and killing another man.
Nine days later officers said they found him and got permission from a judge to put a tracker on his car. That day, police said undercover officers followed him and cornered him in north Spokane near Queen and Ash.
Officers said they had surrounded him and he shot at them at least once. Six officers fired back at least 29 times, killing McCoy, investigators said.
Investigators went through 57 videos of that night to see what happened.
However, some officers didn’t have body camera video, which is what the department is now focusing on for SWAT team members.
“Our biggest priority right now is because we still have a couple units, that because of their assignments they originally weren’t issued body cams, our biggest priority right now is getting those folks equipped with body cams for any time they’re going to be anticipating enforcement action or any kind of use of force situation,” said Spokane Police Department Captain Tom Hendren.
Police say McCoy was shot seven times. They attempted to save him, but he died at the scene.
Officers were able to match the gun McCoy fired at officers to the homicide he was wanted for. The Spokane Prosecutor’s Office said all six officers were justified in the deadly shooting. They were not charged with any crimes. They are all back on duty.
“These are still pending the initial administrative investigation because we just recently got the case file sent over to do that part,” Hendren said.
The police department said it is also talking about putting dashboard cameras in police cars.
