Bloglander

Newly released surveillance footage from the parking lot of the local Salvation Army shelter offers a new, but limited, look at the moments leading to the fatal officer-involved shooting of 40-year-old Danny Jones last August.

Jones can be seen pulling into the lot in a red Dodge pickup truck (00:20 in video) as two officers quickly pull in behind him shortly after 6 am on Aug. 22, 2013. Spokane Police Department officers emerge from those vehicles with guns drawn (00:28) as more than a dozen officers converge on the location.

Jones

Investigators released the video to the Inlander and other media outlets today. The footage includes multiple angles of the confrontation, though the motion-detection video has gaps and only takes an image every two seconds. The footage also lacks audio and is obstructed in some cases.

Jones pulls the red truck forward and backward as one patrol car pulls up to box in the truck (00:45). Another patrol car then pulls up against the front right fender as the truck appears to lurch backward into the other patrol car behind it (00:53). As the vehicle pulls forward again, officers later report, they feared Jones would crash into the building or run over a fellow officer when they opened fire.

Light smoke rises when officers open fire (00:58) just after 6:11 am. Officers fired at least 19 shots with at least seven rounds striking Jones, killing him soon after. Investigative records indicate at least one bullet struck an SPD vehicle caught in the crossfire.

The Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office recently cleared the SPD officers of any wrongdoing in the shooting. Read the entire decision memo here.