Pasco autopsy contradicts police account that victim was not shot in back

An independent autopsy of Antonio Zambrano-Montes, a Mexican national who was shot dead by police in Pasco, Washington, has contended he was shot twice from behind, in direct contradiction of statements by police investigating the shooting who say the unarmed man was not shot in the back.

On Wednesday, Sergeant Ken Lattin, spokesman for the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) examining the death, told reporters 17 bullets had been fired by three officers, of which “five to six” struck Zambrano-Montes’s body. He stated that while the full medical examiner’s report had not yet been filed, “At this time we know Antonio Zambrano-Montes was not shot in the back.”

Video of the incident shows Zambrano-Montes running away from police just before he is killed in a volley of bullets. He appears to momentarily raise his arms and then turns to the officers chasing him before they open fire.

An independent autopsy commissioned by members of Zambrano-Montes’s family, with extracts publicly released by the family’s lawyers, contends he was shot once in the buttocks and once in the back of his upper right arm.

The autopsy also suggests Zambrano-Montes had as many as eight entry wounds rather than the “five to six” quoted by police, saying he was shot from the front six times: three times in the chest, once in the chin, once in the scrotum and once in the left arm.

The difference in autopsy findings is likely to add to further criticism of the SIU’s handling of the investigation. The unit, which consists of 15 officers from neighbouring police forces, has yet to interview any of the three officers who shot Zambrano-Montes and has provided scant information on the progress of its investigation.

Calls for a federal investigation have been growing, with local community members and advocacy groups calling for the Department of Justice to intervene. The Mexican foreign ministry has also condemned the incident as a “disproportionate” use of force.

Sergeant Lattin directed all questions arising from the independent autopsy to the office of the Franklin County prosecutor. The prosecutor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.

The FBI in Seattle is monitoring the SIU investigation and a US Department of Justice “conciliation specialist” was present in Pasco earlier in the week, meeting community activists and members of the police.

On Monday the civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the families of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin, announced he would act on behalf of Zambrano-Montes’s family.

Charles Herrmann, the attorney who released the findings of the independent autopsy and who is representing Zambrano-Montes’s wife and children, said he looked forward to bringing a claim against the city of Pasco alongside Crump.