Police Department

Officer Involved Shooting in North Spokane

Officer John O'Brien

Tuesday, December 26, 2017 at 10:57 a.m.

The name of the Spokane Police officer involved in the Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) from December 26^th, 2017 in the area of Madison Street and Sharp Avenue is being released. Officer Chris LeQuire fired his weapon in the OIS.

Officer Chris LeQuire was originally hired by the Spokane Police Department (SPD) in September of 2013 and served two years. After a six month leave to explore a career elsewhere, Officer LeQuire was rehired on March 30, 2016. Officer LeQuire has received the Medal of Merit (September 2017), Chief’s Citation Award (January 2017), Lifesaving Medal (October 2016) and letters of commendation.

Prior to joining SPD, Officer LeQuire studied Criminal Justice at Western Carolina University before joining the United States Air Force in 2008. Officer LeQuire served five years of active duty including two tours of duty in Afghanistan as an Air Transportation Craftsman. During that time he received two medals for deployments under Operation Enduring Freedom, was awarded the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Army Achievement Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal. He was honorably discharged in August of 2013 after having reached the rank of Staff Sergeant.

Related Photo

• Officer Chris LeQuire

Original release:

Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) this morning. One officer fired their service weapon striking the subject.

No officers were injured during this incident.

This incident is being investigated by the Spokane Investigative Regional Response (SIRR) Team.

This morning, December 26^th, 2017, around 5:45am, an armed robbery occurred at 1616 W. Northwest Boulevard. The suspect assaulted a store employee inside and while fleeing the scene, fired at least one round from a firearm in the parking lot.

Witnesses provided a suspect and vehicle description and one witness briefly followed the vehicle.

Officers were able to locate the suspect vehicle and while creating a tactical plan, the suspect fled the scene. The suspect’s automobile had contact with an officer’s vehicle then the suspect fled on foot in the area of Madison Street and Sinto Avenue.

One officer fired his handgun, striking the suspect and the suspect died as a result of the injuries.

The identity of the suspect will be released by the Spokane Medical Examiner’s Office.

The Officer Involved Protocol was enacted. The SIRR Team is on-scene investigating the incident. The SIRR Team is comprised of multiple agencies in eastern Washington, including the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, the Spokane Valley Police Department, the Washington State Patrol, and the Spokane Police Department.

• The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is the case managing agency in this incident. All future communications on this incident will be sent via the SIRR Team.
• The Spokane Police Department will release the names of the officers involved in this incident.
• Once the SIRR Team investigation is complete the case will be forwarded to the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office for review.

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