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Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy shoots, kills man Friday after pursuit

Law enforcement members gather near the corner of Wall and Wedgewood after a deputy-involved shooting Friday morning, Jan . 10, 2020, in Spokane. A drone is prepared for flight at left. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
By Thomas Clouse tomc@spokesman.com(509) 459-5495

A man was shot and killed Friday morning by a Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy following a very short pursuit that ended in the backyard of a north Spokane home.

According to the sheriff’s office, the incident occurred at about 3:50 a.m. when a deputy attempted to perform a traffic stop on a vehicle near the intersection of North Wall Street and West Weile Avenue.

The driver did not stop “and the traffic stop turned into a pursuit,” Knezovich said told KHQ

After a two-block pursuit, the driver’s vehicle went into the backyard of a residence where it hit a fence and the driver got out of the vehicle, said the sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Mark Gregory.

“Due to this rapidly evolving and dangerous situation, the lone deputy attempted to deploy his Taser, but it did not work,” Gregory said. “A very short foot pursuit ensued into the backyard of a residence.”

Following the failed Taser deployment, Knezovich said the man then fled on foot before turning around to face the deputy a second time.

“The deputy was then confronted by the subject again, who turned, reached into the pocket or the waistband of his pants. He refused to obey the deputy’s commands,” Knezovich said. “At that point, we know a shot was fired. The subject was struck and the subject is deceased.”

Medics arrived shortly after the shooting and pronounced him dead. Gregory said the investigation into the deputy-involved shooting will now be investigated by the Spokane Police Department as part of the Spokane Investigative Regional Response or SIRR team.

He noted that after the passage of a recent law, all further information about the investigation must come from Spokane Police.

The sheriff’s office will name the deputy who fired the fatal shot at a later time. The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office at some point will release the name of the man who was shot, Gregory said.

Anyone who may have witnessed the shooting or captured any aspect of the incident on video camera is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233.