Washington Police Kill Man Pointing Cell Phone at Them

Police in Washington said they ordered  Daniel Covarrubias to pull his hands out of his pocket because he was making them fear for their lives.

But when he did, they shot him anyway because they say he begin pointing a cell phone at them, “mimicking a gun,” according to Lakewood Police Chief Mark Zaro.

Not a single reporter in Monday’s press conference asked if Covarrubias was perhaps recording, an action we have seen being compared to holding a weapon by law enforcement officers throughout the country over the years.

“He would not do anything other than point what they thought was a gun at them, making de-escalation impossible for our officers,” Zaro said. “I’m not going to ask officers to stand there with what they believe to be a gun pointed at them and not take actions to defend their lives.”

The full press conference is posted below, a good lesson in how the Police PR Spin Machine is conducted.

When one reporter asked what type of phone Covarrubias was holding, Zaro said he had no clue. When a reporter asked the chief to pull out his own cell phone to demonstrate how Covarrubias was using it to mimic a gun, the chief said he had no cell phone.

But he also stated that witnesses recorded the incident with their cell phones, apparently managing to do it without mimicking a gun. That video is not being released because it is being used as evidence in the “investigation.”

The incident took place last month after Covarrubias ran through a lumber yard, prompting workers to call police because they figured he was running from them considering they heard sirens in the distance.

But police say those sirens were for somebody else, but responded nonetheless.

By the time they arrived, they found Covarrubias standing on top of a 25-foot stack of lumber.

Officers David Butts and Ryan Hamilton tried to talk to him, but Covarrubias did not respond. He then stuffed his hands in his pockets, sending a chill down their spines.

When they ordered him to remove his hands from his pockets, he pulled out what the chief described as a “dark object,” which sent another chill down their spines.

And when he pointed that object towards them, the two cops fired nine times, five of those bullets striking Covarrubias.

Six seconds elapsed from the time Covarrubias pulled out his phone and the final shot was fired.

Police say that Covarrubias had been hallucinating after having gone three days without eating on a methamphetamine binge.

But they also said he had just left a hospital where they released him, apparently knowing he was not in the most stable condition.

Police in Washington said they ordered  Daniel Covarrubias to pull his hands out of his pocket because he was making them fear for their lives.

But when he did, they shot him anyway because they say he begin pointing a cell phone at them, “mimicking a gun,” according to Lakewood Police Chief Mark Zaro.

Not a single reporter in Monday’s press conference asked if Covarrubias was perhaps recording, an action we have seen being compared to holding a weapon by law enforcement officers throughout the country over the years.

“He would not do anything other than point what they thought was a gun at them, making de-escalation impossible for our officers,” Zaro said. “I’m not going to ask officers to stand there with what they believe to be a gun pointed at them and not take actions to defend their lives.”

The full press conference is posted below, a good lesson in how the Police PR Spin Machine is conducted.

When one reporter asked what type of phone Covarrubias was holding, Zaro said he had no clue. When a reporter asked the chief to pull out his own cell phone to demonstrate how Covarrubias was using it to mimic a gun, the chief said he had no cell phone.

But he also stated that witnesses recorded the incident with their cell phones, apparently managing to do it without mimicking a gun. That video is not being released because it is being used as evidence in the “investigation.”

The incident took place last month after Covarrubias ran through a lumber yard, prompting workers to call police because they figured he was running from them considering they heard sirens in the distance.

But police say those sirens were for somebody else, but responded nonetheless.

By the time they arrived, they found Covarrubias standing on top of a 25-foot stack of lumber.

Officers David Butts and Ryan Hamilton tried to talk to him, but Covarrubias did not respond. He then stuffed his hands in his pockets, sending a chill down their spines.

When they ordered him to remove his hands from his pockets, he pulled out what the chief described as a “dark object,” which sent another chill down their spines.

And when he pointed that object towards them, the two cops fired nine times, five of those bullets striking Covarrubias.

Six seconds elapsed from the time Covarrubias pulled out his phone and the final shot was fired.

Police say that Covarrubias had been hallucinating after having gone three days without eating on a methamphetamine binge.

But they also said he had just left a hospital where they released him, apparently knowing he was not in the most stable condition.

Support our Mission

Help us build a database of bad cops

For almost 15 years, PINAC News has remained active despite continuous efforts by the government and Big Tech to shut us down by either arresting us for lawful activity or by restricting access to our readers under the pretense that we write about “social issues.”

Since we are forbidden from discussing social issues on social media, we have created forums on our site to allow us to fulfill our mission with as little restriction as possible. We welcome our readers to join our forums and support our mission by either donating, volunteering or both.

Our plan is to build a national database of bad cops obtained from public records maintained by local prosecutors. The goal is to teach our readers how to obtain these lists to ensure we cover every city, county and state in the country.

After all, the government has made it clear it will not police the police so the role falls upon us.

It will be our most ambitious project yet but it can only be done with your help.

But if we succeed, we will be able to keep innocent people out of prison.

Please make a donation below or click on side tab to learn more about our mission.

Subscribe to PINAC

Bypass Big Tech censorship.

Carlos Miller
Carlos Millerhttps://pinacnews.com
Editor-in-Chief Carlos Miller spent a decade covering the cop beat for various newspapers in the Southwest before returning to his hometown Miami and launching Photography is Not a Crime aka PINAC News in 2007. He also published a book, The Citizen Journalist's Photography Handbook, which is available on Amazon.

Leave a Reply

- Advertisement -

Latest articles