Two Spokane SWAT Deputies Critical After Gunfire at Domestic Call

Two Spokane County sheriff’s deputies were fighting for their lives Wednesday after they were shot while trying to reach people inside a home during a domestic violence call near Spangle, Washington, according to Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels and multiple local outlets.

Three people are dead, including the suspect, KXLY and KHQ reported. A woman who said her brother shot her survived with injuries that are not considered life-threatening, according to FOX 13 Seattle.

Two deputies were shot while responding to a domestic violence call in Spokane County near Spangle on Tuesday

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The call came in just after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, when a woman ran to a neighbor’s home and said her brother had shot her, Nowels said, according to KHQ and KXLY. She told dispatchers that two other people were still inside the house and that she believed they were in immediate danger, KHQ reported.

Deputies sent a drone over the property and determined the suspect had an outstanding felony warrant and posed an active threat, the sheriff said, according to KHQ. The drone also spotted a person down in the yard. Deputies moved that person to safety to give first aid, but the person was declared dead, KHQ and KXLY reported.

Knowing at least one more person was inside with the suspect, SWAT members and deputies approached the home. When the SWAT team tried to breach the door, “they were met with gunfire,” Nowels said, according to KXLY. Two deputies suffered life-threatening wounds, KHQ reported. Before they were shot, deputies were able to confirm that another person on the ground inside the home was also dead, according to KHQ.

Spokane police SWAT and Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office SWAT teams then joined Spokane County deputies to locate the suspect and later determined the suspect was dead, KHQ reported. Officials have not said how the suspect died.

One wounded deputy was rushed to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in a patrol car and the other was flown by helicopter, according to KHQ. Both remained in critical condition and under medical observation, the station reported.

Nowels described the two as “young members of our SWAT team who show up every day to train to put themselves in harm’s way,” according to KXLY. “Both deputies have two very young children, I ask that you respect their privacy,” he said, KXLY reported.

Authorities have not released the names of the wounded deputies or the suspect, FOX 13 Seattle reported.

The City of Spokane Police Department took over the homicide investigation, according to KHQ. Three deputies who fired their weapons were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Washington State Patrol, the sheriff’s office said, according to KHQ. That kind of independent review is routine after officers use deadly force. There is no threat to the public, KHQ reported.

Washington State Patrol helped shut down U.S. Highway 195 to move one of the deputies to the hospital, and lanes stayed closed until about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to KXLY. Nowels said the home will remain a crime scene “for quite some time,” KXLY reported.

The two deputies did exactly what the job demands: they went to a door with an armed suspect behind it because people inside might still be alive. Daily Beltway will update this story as officials release more information about their condition and the investigation.

Sources

• KHQ
• KXLY
• FOX 13 Seattle
• MyNorthwest on X

Reporting by Daily Beltway.