Ofc. John O'Brien, PIO
Thursday, October 18, 2018 at 9:27 a.m.
Spokane Police Department SWAT Officers take homicide suspect into custody following a downtown shooting. Joel C. Taitch (27) was located blocks away from the crime scene then booked for Murder 2nd Degree.
Wednesday, October 17, just after 5:30 p.m., Spokane Police Department (SPD) Patrol Officers responded to a report of a shooting with a victim near 100 N. Washington Street. Citizens were providing CPR to the juvenile victim while others followed Taitch from the scene.
Officers located Taitch in a building at 200 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard. SWAT safely evacuated citizens from their nearby rooms while containing Taitch who was still believed to be armed with a handgun.
Taitch eventually surrendered to SWAT and was taken into custody without incident. No citizens, Taitch or officers were injured while making the arrest. Taitch was transported and booked into the Spokane County Jail for Murder 2nd Degree.
SPD had several specialty units in addition to patrol involved in this incident to bring it to conclusion: SWAT, Major Crimes Detectives, Special Victims Unit, Safe Street Task Force and Hostage Negotiators. We appreciate the help from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team as well.
The identity of the deceased will be released by the Spokane Medical Examiner’s Office once they have completed their examination and once next of kin has been notified. Medical Examiner media releases can be found at http://www.spokanecounty.org/3954/Media-Release-Information
