Neighbor recounts scene after deputy shoots domestic violence suspect in Spokane Valley

A neighbor isn’t surprised by a deputy shooting that took place in his neighborhood on Tuesday night, he said.

Dispatchers received a call after 6 p.m. about a possible domestic violence incident saying a man had broken the door of a home near East 10th Avenue and South Bradley Road and would not leave the woman inside alone, according to a news release from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies couldn’t immediately respond due to other calls, SCSO said, but when law enforcement discovered he had a no-contact order and an active domestic violence warrant, they responded to the home and discovered the man left the area and returned later with a gun.

The area “went crazy,” and things got hectic very quickly, said Jim Earlscourt, who lives on East 10th Avenue in Spokane Valley.

Deputies detained the man, and at some point one deputy fired at him, Spokane Valley Police Chief Dave Ellis said outside the scene on Tuesday night.

Earlscourt said he was watching the Gonzaga basketball game when he heard between three or four gunshots. Within minutes, multiple police cars zoomed by his home.

Earlscourt went outside and watched, where he observed more than 10 police and emergency service vehicles out on the street. Law enforcement blocked off the road until about midnight, he said.

Police presence isn’t new in the neighborhood, Earlscourt said. There’s been a couple times he’s noticed law enforcement respond down the road from his home that he’s lived in since 1983.

“It used to be pretty good around here,” he said. “It’s changed.”

The man, whose name has not been released, was taken to the hospital. The deputy who shot him has been placed on administrative leave, which is protocol after sheriff’s office shootings, the release said.

The Spokane Independent Investigative Response Team was on scene processing evidence. Washington State Patrol is now the lead agency for the investigation.