Man shot by Spokane Police Sunday still recovering, wanted for failing to register as sex offender

The man shot by a Spokane police officer in an East Central apartment complex on Sunday is still in the hospital after undergoing surgery .

Police shot the man, identified by his brother-in-law as 60-year-old Robert Botzon, after an “intense interaction” in which Botzon would not comply with officers’ commands in attempting to arrest him for outstanding warrants, according to a department news release.

Botzon was at the Hart Terrace apartment complex at 3308 E. 11th Ave. to pick up his brother-in-law Frank Galan, 67, Galan said on Monday.

Police ran Botzon’s license plate while on patrol at the apartments and learned of his felony warrant, according to the release.

Botzon had an outstanding arrest warrant in March 2023 for failing to register as a sex offender, according to court documents. He had been sentenced in 2013 on counts of child rape and incest, but has since been released.

Botzon drove to the apartments to pick up Galan to watch the Super Bowl a few hours before kickoff. Botzon arrived at the Hart Terrace Apartments just after noon to pick up Galan at his second story unit and stood downstairs to smoke a cigarette outside as he waited, Galan said.

Moments after Botzon arrived, Galan left his apartment to see Botzon lying on the icy pavement, cuffed, with a bullet wound in his gut, surrounded by four or five officers “dragging him, hitting him and punching him,” Galan said. Galan didn’t see police shoot Botzon and didn’t hear a gunshot, only witnessing the aftermath of the “intense interaction.” Patches of blood could be seen on the pavement on Monday near where police shot Botzon, the crimson sealed under a layer of ice.

Galan said officers drug him like a “dead dog on the street” while “punching him and hitting him” while handcuffed.

He wasn’t aware that Botzon was armed; a police news release said officers on the radio said he had a gun, but investigators have yet to confirm whether they found one.

After seeing Botzon bloodied and cuffed, Galan said an officer armed with an AR-15 yelled at Galan to get back into his apartment with his dog, a pit bull that was riled up from the scene. Galan went back into his second -floor unit, where an officer with an AR-15 stood outside his door, he said.

The incident remains under investigation by the Spokane Independent Investigative Response Team, with the Washington State Patrol leading the investigation, and will release updates on a weekly basis.

Police have not clarified a timeline of the incident or confirmed whether Botzon was armed. Under the local policy dictating the investigation of use-of-force by police, Spokane police can no longer comment on the case under investigation by the WSP. WSP declined to comment, citing the open investigation.

Reporter Alexandra Duggan contributed to this report.