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A decorated Army combat veteran was shot and killed by six Spokane County sheriff's deputies in February 2014 after he led officers on a high-speed chase and told dispatchers he wanted police to kill him, according to the sheriff's office and a later prosecutor's review.

Jedadiah Zillmer, 23, an infantry sniper who earned a Purple Heart in Afghanistan, drove from north Spokane across the Idaho state line and back into Spokane Valley on Interstate 90 in the early morning hours, authorities said. A Liberty Lake police officer joined the pursuit as it passed through his jurisdiction.

While he drove, Zillmer stayed on the phone with a call-taker, saying he wanted officers to shoot him in the head and warning that he would open fire on bystanders if they did not act quickly, according to the sheriff's office. A radio dispatcher relayed those statements to the deputies chasing him, and the agency later released redacted recordings of that dispatch and radio traffic.

Zillmer stopped near the Spokane Valley Mall, at Sullivan Road and Indiana Avenue, an area with shopping centers and people nearby. Investigators said he stepped out heavily armed and wearing a bulletproof vest, with two rifles in the car and a pistol in his hand. Body-camera footage from the Liberty Lake officer recorded deputies repeatedly urging him to surrender before six of them opened fire as he reached toward the vest.

The deputies who fired were identified as Brett Hubbell, Jeff Thurman, Dale Moyer, Ryan Walter, Brian Hirzel and Randy Watts. The Spokane Police Department led the investigation, and a search of Zillmer and his car turned up no explosives.

On Aug. 1, 2014, a Spokane County deputy prosecutor concluded the deputies were justified in using deadly force and that no criminal charges would be filed. Relatives said Zillmer had struggled with post-traumatic stress since his deployment, in which he was wounded and a fellow soldier was killed, and that the Army had denied him disability benefits for the injury that earned him the medal.