SPOKANE, Wash. — Days after a man was shot and killed by police in a north Spokane Walmart, the Spokane County Sheriff's Office released the name of a man accused of assaulting an officer moments before the shooting.
Thirty-three-year-old Tylor Forester appeared in court Thursday charged with third-degree assault and obstructing an officer.
Court documents said while two Spokane police officers were fighting with a shoplifting suspect, Forester came from behind and pushed one of the officers.
"I didn't assault anybody," Forester said. "I never assaulted anybody."
Forester agreed to a jailhouse Thursday, telling KREM 2 he was near the self-checkout area of the store when he heard a man yelling for help. He claims he didn't know the suspect.
"He just kept screaming 'help, help, help! Stop, stop, stop, please stop!,'" Forester said.
Forester said he pushed on the officer's shoulder and told him he was being too excessive.
He told KREM 2 he didn't see the shooting, but he heard at least one gunshot. Police were trying to arrest 34-year-old Kerry Jones-Hilburg for shoplifting and said he was violently resisting, even after a taser was deployed. Authorities said at one point, someone in the store yelled "gun" before a Spokane officer fired his weapon, killing Jones-Hilburg. Investigators believe the loaded gun found at the scene belonged to him.
That officer has been identified as Karl Richardson, a field training officer who currently serves on SPD's tactical team, and also works on SPD's Dignitary Protection Team, providing security for politicians, celebrities and other VIPs who come to town. Richardson also helped recover a kidnapped child in 2021. According to SPD, he's been with the department since 2019.
Forester has now found himself in jail, charged with third-degree assault and obstructing an officer. A judge set bond at $5,000. Forester said he can't afford to post it.
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