Police Department

Spokane Police arrest two convicted felons for multiple felony assault counts and malicious harassment stemming from a shooting on October 08, 2017.

Officer Joshua Laiva #1231

Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at 4:44 p.m.

On Sunday before 11:30PM, Spokane Police responded to the report of a shooting where eight or nine shots had been fired at a residence in the 2400 block of N. Wiscomb Ave. Witnesses reported a vehicle had sped away.

The victim of the shooting was a black/African American male who had contact with the suspects minutes earlier where one suspect had called him racial slurs, punched him in the face, and threatened him with a gun.

Spokane Police Officers responded to the scene and took initial statements from the victims and witnesses. Spokane Police Detectives later conducted their follow up by re-contacting involved victims, witnesses, and collecting evidence. After collecting statements and evidence Investigators determined 12 time convicted felon 32 year old Jason E. Cooper and 16 time convicted felon 36 year old Donald L. Prichard were responsible for the shooting. Cooper made statements, and had body markings supportive of white supremacy. Cooper was later located in Downtown Spokane, and Prichard was located at his residence.

A 9mm pistol, .38 caliber pistol, and .45 caliber pistol were all located in connection with this investigation.

Cooper was booked into the Spokane County Jail for five counts of Assault 1^st Degree, one count of Malicious Harassment, and one count of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. Pritchard was booked into the Spokane County Jail for five counts of Assault 1^st Degree, one count of Malicious Harassment, and three counts of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.

Spokane Police take Malicious Harassment incidents very seriously. Detectives worked for nearly 24 hours straight to bring this case to a resolution. Spokane Police are aware of the negative impact incidents like this can have on our diverse community. Spokane Police utilized several different units working in a coordinated effort to locate the suspects and take them in custody to protect both the victims and our community from additional racially motivated crimes. All of our community members deserve to feel safe.

A person is guilty of a hate crime if he or she commits any of the following acts because of the victims protected status.

• Causes Physical Injury to the victim or another person.
• Causes physical damage to or destroys the property of the victim or another person.
• Makes threats that causes a person or group to have reasonable fear of harm to their person or property.

Even if the victim does not belong to a certain protected status, if they were victimized because they were perceived to be of that status, this is still considered a hate crime.

Protected Statuses Under Washington State Law:

Race/Gender/Color/Religion/Ancestry

National Origin/Sexual Orientation

Mental or Physical Handicap

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