SPOKANE, Wash. — KREM 2 has obtained brand new video showing the moments leading up to Monday's deadly police shooting in downtown Spokane.
The woman who shot the video, Toya, put herself in a dangerous position. At one point, she was between police and a man armed with a knife. While she doesn't think officers needed to shoot and kill the man, she doesn't believe they should face any charges.
"I heard somebody say, 'I don't want to hurt you,' and I turned and I looked," Toya said.
That's when Toya pulled out her phone and kept recording, following a man in black holding a knife, following another man who asks him several times to put the weapon down.
Police were already on their way and learned the suspect was on the phone with his probation officer, threatening to stab people and kill himself.
"He kept pleading with that man, 'I don't want to hurt you,'" Toya said. "So, I kept walking behind the man. The police came running down and that's when they said, 'Drop your weapon. Drop your weapon.'"
"They tazed him three times at first," Toya continued. "He did not go down but he dropped that knife and went back to pick it up and that's when they shot him."
"It was evident that something was going on," said Lauren D'Arrienzo, owner of Soulful Soups and Spirits.
D'Arrienzo heard the gunshots from inside her restaurant.
"So, I just went to the front door and I saw the police and realized we should probably lock the door," D'Arrienzo said. "I locked the door and just told everybody they just need to stay inside for now."
"All the sheriff came in and they interviewed the folks who had seen part of the incident and then got everyone else's names and numbers and then said 'Hey, we're going to get you guys out of here," D'Arrienzo added.
Toya said deputies interviewed her as well, and she's given law enforcement a copy of her video. Police have not identified the man officers shot, but confirmed he died at the hospital. Toya thinks the man should still be alive, but she doesn't think the officers involved should face charges.
"I can't sit here and say, 'Yeah, charge them,'" Toya said. "I'm not going to say that because that's not where my mind is at and heart is at because everybody got to protect themselves, right? But, it didn't take two of them to do that to that man."
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown has scheduled a press conference at 11 a.m. tomorrow to discuss public safety and to provide an update on the search for Spokane's next police chief.
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.