Tacoma police officers justified in 2017 fatal shooting of armed man, prosecutor says

The Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office announced Thursday that three Tacoma Police Department officers used justified and reasonable force when they shot and killed a 58-year-old man who fired gunshots at them in 2017.

A letter from Prosecuting Attorney Mary Robnett to TPD Chief Avery Moore outlining her decision provides a more detailed look at what led to police firing at Frankie Santos when they were called to a residential street in South Tacoma for reports of a man acting erratically.

Three officers fired at Santos, and an autopsy found that he was struck six times, according to the letter. The officers involved were identified about a week after the Sept. 10, 2017 shooting as William Johnson, Matthew Watters and Jeffrey Robillard. According to the letter, Robillard fired the fatal shots with a rifle.

Police spokesperson Shelbie Boyd said Robillard and Watters retired from the department in 2021. Johnson, now a police patrol specialist, is still working.

Robnett wrote in the letter that Robillard was left with “no reasonably effective alternative” than to shoot at Santos. Robillard went to the scene after shots were exchanged between the other officers and Santos. Before Robillard arrived, Watters and Johnson had taken cover behind a patrol vehicle, and Santos was behind a utility pole.

Three 9 mm pistols with partially loaded ammunition clips were found near Santos’ body. According to the letter, all three were purchased by the man between 2012 and 2017. Based on cartridges recovered from the scene, Santos is believed to have fired two of his pistols at least 39 times. Four bullets struck a patrol vehicle, two hit an occupied residence and one struck a resident’s car.

The fatal shooting of Santos preceded the passing of a state law which prohibits law enforcement agencies from investigating their own department’s uses of deadly force. That law, Initiative 940, went into effect in 2020.

In 2017, Tacoma police regularly conducted their own deadly force investigations, the letter states. This shooting was investigated by the department’s Major Crimes Investigative Team, and an investigator from the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office also participated and observed. The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted its own medical investigation.

Reports of armed man

The incident began when police were called to the 5600 block of South Lawrence Street for reports of a man who had driven to the area, approached a house on the street and banged on a window with a stick. Witnesses reported seeing two firearms on him, one holstered and one in his back pocket.

It remains unclear why Santos drove to the street. According to the letter, detectives attempted to determine the reason, but they did not find any association between Santos and the address or the neighborhood. None of the non-police witnesses who were interviewed for the investigation knew Santos or had any prior contact with him.

Toxicology tests indicated that Santos had 0.10 mg/L of methamphetamine in his blood at the time of his death.

Johnson and Watters arrived on the scene at 3:10 p.m. and found Santos standing outside a house. According to the letter, police tried to speak with him, but his replies were incoherent. Then, Watters saw Santos moving his hands toward his waistline. He repeatedly asked to see the man’s hands, but Santos instead pulled out a pistol and pointed it at police.

“Multiple officer and civilian accounts described the officers first ordering Mr. Santos to keep his hands up and then to drop the gun before any shooting began,” the letter states. “These accounts are corroborated by video surveillance and cell phone recordings of the events.”

When Santos pointed his weapon at police, Watters fired three gunshots from his service firearm, then fired another quick burst of shots while he took cover. According to the letter, Johnson unholstered his firearm and took cover with him. Johnson reported hearing Santos firing gunshots, and he returned fire. Watters radioed, “Shots fired,” at 3:19 p.m.

“Mr. Santos had positioned himself behind a nearby utility pole and extended his arms around the pole,” the letter states. “He was pointing and firing two guns at the officers. PPO Watters heard rounds hitting the dirt several feet in front of his patrol vehicle and hitting the vehicle itself.”

Watters continued to yell at Santos to drop the gun, but he did not respond, according to the letter. More shots were fired by Watters, and at least one appeared to strike Santos. The letter states that Santos returned to cover and continued to fire at Watters and Johnson.

Backup arrives

At 3:21 p.m., Watters radioed that Santos had been struck by gunfire a couple of times but that “he wasn’t going down.” Watters asked other officers to approach from the north with a rifle. At about the same time, Robillard arrived in a patrol vehicle from the north.

“Robillard believed that there was an imminent threat to not only their lives, but also to the lives of the citizens residing along that block of S. Lawrence Street,” the letter states. “He determined that it was necessary to fire his weapon to prevent Mr. Santos from shooting them.”

The officer fired two shots at Santos, hitting him in the back. According to the letter, the man fell to the ground but was still moving. He fired two more shots, and Santos’ movement stopped.

Officers approached the man, disarmed him and put him in handcuffs. The letter states that medical responders rendered aid to him, but Santos was pronounced dead at the scene.