Pasco Killing: Mexican Shot 17 Times By Police

Police who killed a Mexican man in Washington state after he pelted the officers with rocks fired 17 shots at him, officials said.

Antonio Zambrano-Montes, a 35-year-old unemployed farm worker, was struck five or six times, said a police task force investigating the case. They said none of the bullets hit him in the back.

However, an independent autopsy a Seattle pathologist indicates Mr Zambrano-Montes was shot seven times, at least twice in the back, according to a lawyer for the family.

The 10 February shooting of Mr Zambrano-Montes in Pasco, a small town in Washington state's agricultural heartland, has sparked protests in the Hispanic community.

The Mexican government has condemned the shooting.

Police said officers responding to a report of a man throwing rocks at passing cars shot Mr Zambrano-Montes after he began pelting them with rocks and ignored commands to surrender.

They said a stun gun had also failed to subdue him.

Video taken by a witness shows Mr Zambrano-Montes running from officers. As the officers draw closer, he stops, turns and faces them. Multiple "pops" are heard, and then he falls to the ground.

Police Sergeant Ken Lattin, a spokesman for the task force, said a rock was found next to Mr Zambrano-Montes' body, but no gun or knife.

He promised the investigation would be thorough and fair.

"We're not here to cover up for anybody," he said.

"Did he have some sort of injury? Did he have some mental health situations that he was dealing with in the days and hours (before the incident)? Or was he under the influence of drugs? We need to know," Sgt Lattin said.

He said autopsy results were pending.

The report from the task force came shortly after about 100 mourners gathered at St Patrick's Catholic Church in Pasco for Mr Zambrano-Montes' funeral Mass.

His body was to be returned to his small hometown in a rural part of Michoacan, Mexico.

A lawyer representing the victim's estranged wife and two teenage daughters said it is difficult for police officers to investigate their colleagues.

"I do not think these authorities can conduct a truly impartial investigation of their brother officers," Charles Herrmann said.

He said the widow, Teresa De Jesus Meraz-Ruiz, who lives in California, was "devastated" by the shooting.