Armed Suicidal Male Fires Weapon During Stand-Off
Officer Involved Protocol Enacted - SIRR Team Investigating
This morning, Spokane Valley Deputies contacted a male in the gas station parking lot located at Evergreen and Trent. The male was observed holding a firearm to his head and refused to comply with Deputies’ repeated requests to end the situation peacefully. As this incident continued, Deputies perceived an imminent threat and fired toward the suspect. Minutes later, the male was contacted in his truck and pronounced deceased at the scene. No law enforcement or members of the public were injured.
*** ROAD CLOSURE: Trent between Best Road and east of McDonald Road is closed to traffic. This portion of Trent will remain closed for several hours while this incident is investigated. ***
On August 19, 2018, at approximately 8:40 a.m., Spokane Valley Deputies received reports of an erratic driver in the area of Sullivan and Trent. Witnesses reported the male pulled into the gas station at Trent and Evergreen and began breaking out the windows of the vehicle.
When Deputies arrived, the male was in his vehicle, was not compliant and stated he was armed. Moments later, the male produced a handgun and placed it to his head. Deputies continued to talk with the male, attempting to gain his compliance and deescalate the situation but the male would not comply.
SWAT Team, Hostage/Crisis Negotiators, Spokane Valley Fire Rescue Task Force and Air 1 were requested to respond. During this time, Deputies reported hearing a shot fired from inside the male’s vehicle but they could not ascertain the direction it was fired and they did not return fire. Trent, between Best and McDonald, was closed to traffic, the gas station’s emergency fuel shutoff was activated and BNSF Railroad was asked to hold train traffic due to this dangerous and unpredictable situation.
Once on scene, SWAT Team members inside Rescue 2, approached the male who was still inside his vehicle parked next to the gas pumps. The male continued to move the handgun around and place it up to his head. At some point, while HNT Negotiators tried to talk to the male, SWAT Team members perceived an imminent threat and fired their weapons toward the suspect.
After a plan was formulated to safely re-approach the male, Deputies learned the male had been shot and was later pronounced deceased at the scene by medics.
The Officer Involved Protocol was enacted and SIRR Team investigators responded to conduct the investigation and process the scene for evidence. The SIRR Team is comprised of multiple agencies in eastern Washington, including the Spokane Police Department, Washington State Patrol, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and the Spokane Valley Police Department.
• The Spokane Police Department is the case managing agency in this incident. All future communications regarding this investigation will be sent via the SIRR Team.
• The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the name of the decedent at a later date, when appropriate to do so.
• The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office will release the name of the deputies involved in the incident at a later time.
• Once the SIRR Team investigation is complete the case will be forwarded to the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office for review.