Man shot by deputies in Spokane Valley motel blaze in critical but stable condition

A man who was shot by deputies after he allegedly set fire to a Spokane Valley motel last week and refused to leave is in critical condition, authorities say.

The man, whose identity has not been released, apparently started a fire in his motel room on the second floor of the Motel 6 at 1919 N. Hutchinson Road early Wednesday morning, and barricaded himself inside – something Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich characterized as an attempt at suicide by cop.

Armed with a knife, the man allegedly went toward a deputy with the weapon when he was shot at by multiple deputies. He was transported to a local hospital and remains at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, where he was in critical but stable condition Saturday, said Trooper Jeff Sevigney, spokesman for Washington State Patrol.

“I have not been advised that’s changed,” he said Monday morning.

Witnesses who heard the gunfire described hearing multiple shots. Several witnesses who saw the man being loaded onto a gurney in the motel’s parking lot assumed he died.