The Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office has determined that two law enforcement officers were justified in shooting a man who was wielding a bolt-action rifle in March.
According to the Spokesman-Review, the man—identified as 34-year-old Ronald Acre—reportedly struggled with mental illness and was being served an eviction notice by a deputy and a police officer at the time of the shooting.
Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said at the time of the incident that Acre had been sitting on a couch in an apartment and began reaching for a blanket, which may have been covering a rifle. The officers told the man to stop reaching for the blanket, but he continued to ignore them.
After repeatedly commanding him to stop, both the deputy and the officer opened fire.
The prosecutor’s office deemed the shooting justified because there was no indication the officers had “acted out of malice or lacked a good-faith belief in the correctness of their actions,” according to the prosecutor's office news release.
