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2 Spokane officers ID’d, placed on leave after shooting 41-year-old man

Robert Bradley, 41, was shot by police arrived after they arrived at his Hillyard home, 2933 E. Wabash Ave. (gray one on the left), to serve him with an anti-harassment order on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2021. (Quinn Welsch)
By Garrett Cabeza garrettc@spokesman.com(509) 459-5135

Two Spokane police officers, Detective Trevor Walker and Cpl. Chris Johnson, were identified as the officers who fired their weapons Sunday in northeast Spokane, resulting in the death of 41-year-old Robert W. Bradley.

Both are on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in the case of an officer-involved shooting.

Officers responded around 10 p.m. to a request to serve an anti-harassment court order to the caller’s neighbor, Bradley, according to a Spokane Independent Investigative Response Team news release. The caller, identified in a previous Spokesman-Review story as Scott Scott, said Bradley returned home and was walking around with what he described as an AR-15-style rifle.

According to court documents, Scott called police around 6:30 p.m., but police did not have anyone available to respond to the call.

As officers approached the back of the residence hours later, they observed a large van with the passenger’s side door open, the release said. Officers approached the van and saw Bradley at the open door and cabin area of the van, identified as a 2021 Dodge Ram ProMaster van in court documents.

Moments later, officers advised shots had been fired and Bradley was down, the release said.

Bradley’s girlfriend, Sarah McLaughlin, told KREM that Bradley was unloading the van after a camping trip when he was approached by police. She said police gave him barely any time to respond.

“He sits up, hands empty. Before he even has time to put his hands up, he’s dodging bullets,” she told KREM. “They didn’t give any time to react at all.”

Another neighbor’s home security system captured audio from the confrontation with police that indicates officers fired less than three seconds after they yelled warnings to Bradley, according to the KREM report.

Documents said three officers arrived on scene and contacted Bradley in the backyard and driveway of the residence. They said officers commanded Bradley to stop digging through the inside of the vehicle. Bradley then emerged from the van and gunfire ensued.

Officers started lifesaving efforts on Bradley before medical personnel took over, the release said. Bradley was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, court records said.

Investigators recovered three firearms from the “immediate area where the shooting occurred,” police officials said in the news release.

Officers were wearing body cameras during the shooting, according to the news release.

Walker started with Spokane police in 2013 as a reserve police officer before he was hired as a full-time officer in 2016, according to a Spokane police news release. Walker was promoted to detective in July.

Johnson has served with Spokane police since 2007 and was promoted to corporal in May, according to the news release.

The Spokane Independent Investigative Response Team is comprised of agencies in Spokane County, including the Washington State Patrol, Spokane Valley Police Department, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, Airway Heights Police Department and the Spokane Police Department. Spokane police will not be involved in the investigation.

The sheriff’s office is the managing agency for the shooting.