SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — A suspect is dead following a standoff with the Spokane County Sheriff's Office on North Calispel Street in north Spokane.
Deputies responded to a home in the area after receiving reports of the suspect threatening to kill his neighbor around 4:18 p.m. Tuesday. The suspect was reportedly armed with a baton. SCSO said they responded to the same address for the same incident the day before.
According to the neighbor, the suspect had a history of coming to the neighbors home, being armed with an axe and damaging the neighbors property.
The neighbor told deputies, he was outside attempting to fix a light the suspect had damaged the night before. While standing on a ladder, the suspect walked from his house to the neighbors home, carrying what appeared to be a baton.
The neighbor told the suspect to stay away. Deputies say the suspect continued toward the victim while allegedly threatening to kill the neighbor. According to sheriffs, deputies reviewed video provided by the neighbor that corroborated his story.
Sheriff's say when they arrived on scene the male suspect was uncooperative, not following commands to surrender despite efforts to calm the situation. Sheriff's used several PA announcements and a phone call with crisis negotiators.
Hours later, a judge issued a search warrant with probable cause to arrest the man for two felony second degree assault and felony harassment with threats to kill in relation to Tuesday night's incident and for three additional misdemeanor charges including criminal second degree trespassing and third degree malicious mischief related to incidents the night before. Deputies breached the door after a phone call with the suspect.
According to Sheriff John Nowels, the suspect "progressed" on deputies before shots were fired. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
During the incident, a K9 was injured and required additional medical treatment by a veterinarian. A deputy also received minor injuries that did not require further treatment at a hospital.
Per sheriffs protocol, the four deputies who are believed to have fired their weapons were placed on administrative leave.
The Spokane Independent Investigative Response Team (SIIR) is conducting an independent investigation. The SIIR Team is comprised of multiple agencies in eastern Washington, including the Spokane Police Department, the Washington State Patrol, Liberty Lake Police Department, Airway Heights Police Department, Spokane Valley Police Department, and the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.