Suspect shot as he returned to crime scene

A television crew has captured the moment a US man was shot dead by officers after he drove through police barricades at a murder scene.

Police in Spokane, Washington, had been searching for Jeremy Arnold when he bypassed crime-scene tape near the home of a murder victim.

"That's the guy, that's the guy, that's the guy," detectives were heard screaming.

Arnold was seen stepping out of the blue ute with a small handgun when officers opened fire, shooting about 10 times at close range – all while a television news crew filmed.

"We had identified him and had, in fact, been looking for him for approximately two hours," Spokane police chief Frank Straub said.

A man who said he knew Arnold told the Spokane Spokesman-Review that the handgun had been a fake.

Police are yet to release the name of the woman murdered at the home.

Arnold's wife Stephanie died last year in a drowning ruled to be an accident. Arnold was also on the river at the time.