NEWS | POLICE
A Fresh Look The family of a man killed by police makes the first request for an independent review BY JACOB JONES
S
plintered bullet holes still riddle the front of the Nine Mile Falls house where Lorinda Fernandez’s son died last year in a volley of police gunfire. Justin Cairns, a troubled 21-year-old with a love of family and an admitted meth addiction, had fled to the rural home in the early darkness of May 16, 2013, when Spokane Police officers crept up, tactical rifles at the ready. “He was a very kindhearted kid and always put other people before himself,” Fernandez says. “Very involved with outdoor things. He loved to snowboard and tube and motorcycle ride, a very fun person to be around.” Investigators had sought Cairns in connection with a fatal shooting from earlier in the morning, the killing of 33-year-old Cyrus Jones. Witnesses reported seeing Cairns’ truck strike Jones and speed away into the night. Officers traced the vehicle registration to a home 14 miles outside the city. SPD officers first spotted Cairns in the backyard of his grandparents’ house on West Charles Road shortly before 2 am. Police reports say he appeared confused and
What will you build?
ran around the front of the house, where three officers confronted him with tactical rifles and ordered him to the ground. Within moments, officers opened fire. Records show at least five .223 rounds struck Cairns while others drilled into the home, shattering glass and perforating bedroom walls. Cairns, unarmed save a cellphone, died at the scene while his younger brother watched from a nearby window. In the nearly 13 months since the shooting, the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office has cleared officers of criminal wrongdoing, but the family still struggles with painful questions. Fernandez has now taken those concerns to the Office of the Police Ombudsman, filing the first request for an independent investigation under the newly established police oversight authority of Proposition 1. “Our hopes with this is to get answers of what happened,” she says, “and … to hopefully prevent things like this from happening in the future.”
F
ollowing the long, contentious effort to implement Prop. 1, the Cairns case will serve as the first test of the new ombudsman investigative process. The family does not seek to impose legal liability or officer discipline, but asks for an independent assessment of the event and any policy recommendations for improving SPD guidelines on the use of deadly force. “We are especially concerned,” the request states, “that yet another unarmed person with mental health/ substance abuse issues that was known to the police was shot and killed.” With the help of attorney Breean Beggs, the Cairns family has outlined specific questions for the ombudsman’s investigation, asking for “more probable than
not” conclusions. They ask for a clarification regarding whether officers had legal authority to enter the property, and if Cairns likely made any threatening gestures toward officers. Maybe the biggest question, Beggs notes, is whether officers can use deadly force when a suspect appears to be reaching for something, but he or she has not yet displayed any weapon. “It’s important to hear from an independent observer,” Beggs says. “What are the policies and procedures that would prevent a death in the future?” Spokane Police Ombudsman Tim Burns says he agrees the case poses many important questions. He confirms he has accepted the request, and plans to move forward on preliminary legal consultations while he waits for the police department to finalize its administrative review of the incident. “The requestors will have answers to questions that clearly aren’t traditionally addressed by a criminal review or an administrative Justin Cairns review,” Burns says. “To me, this is a very important component of what the [ombudsman’s] office exists for, frankly.” A second request has since been filed by the family of 40-year-old Danny Jones, who was fatally shot by Spokane Police outside the Salvation Army shelter last August. His family’s attorney, Mark Harris, explains that
BETH EARNED BETH EARNED HER HER
degree degree
IN OUR EVENING IN OUR EVENING PROGRAM. PROGRAM.
When Beth Vercic-Scott THEN EARNEDwanted A to add a new chapter to
PROMOTION. THEN EARNED A
her career, she enrolled in Whitworth’s evening program to earn
PROMOTION.
her B.A. Beth in Organizational When Vercic-ScottManagement. wanted to add a new chapter to her enrolled in Whitworth’s program to earn “I career, wouldn’tshe be in my current position as evening a physician her B.A. Organizational “I wouldn’t be in recruiter atin Rockwood Health Management. Systems without my
VOLUNTEER
TODAY! Check out why we build & why you should too. Sign up at:
Habitat-Spokane.org
509.534.2552
my current position as a physician recruiter at Rockwood Whitworth bachelor’s degree,” Beth says. With a Health Systems without my Whitworth bachelor’s degree,” convenient evening schedule that let her continue to Beth says. With a convenient evening schedule that let her work during the day, it was a perfect way for Beth to continue to work during the day, it was a perfect way take next it your the time next to step? forthe Beth to step. take Is the next time step.toIstake it your Contact us today. take the next step? Contact us today. Hear Beth’s story at whitworth.edu/evening
Apply now. Visit whitworth.edu/evening or call 509.777.3222.
18 INLANDER JUNE 5, 2014
Beth Vercic-Scott