Police Department

SIRR Team Investigating, Officer Involved Shooting Incident

Ofc. John O'Brien, PIO

Wednesday, August 1, 2018 at 6:32 p.m.

The Spokane Investigative Regional Response Team (SIRR) is investigating the Officer Involved Shooting involving a Spokane Valley Deputy on July 25^th, 2018, at the end of Hills Ct. near Fiske Street.

On July 25, 2018, just before 2:00 a.m., Spokane Valley Deputies responded to a call of a female who was reportedly in danger. A caller reported a female appeared to have been badly beaten/injured and asked for help prior to leaving the store in a van driven by an adult male.

Deputies began looking for the vehicle and a Deputy located it a few minutes later near the area of Hartson Avenue and Thor Street. The Deputy attempted to stop the vehicle but the driver, 54 year old Richard R. Bahr, failed to pull over and continued south on Thor Street. Bahr seemed to be stopping a few blocks later but instead, he turned west on Hills Ct. and began to flee.

Bahr approached the end of Hills Ct., he turned the vehicle around and rammed into the Deputy’s marked patrol car, disabling it. The Deputy got out of his patrol vehicle, drew his weapon and began giving commands. Bahr did not comply and the Deputy fired his weapon striking Bahr.

Life-saving medical attention was started by law enforcement officers. They continued their efforts until they were relieved by medical personnel. The male was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The adult female passenger was not injured from the shooting. She was transported to an area hospital for treatment of injuries that initiated the call.

The Officer Involved Protocol was enacted and SIRR Team investigators responded to the scene to conduct the investigation and processes the scene for evidence. The SIRR Team is comprised of multiple agencies in eastern Washington, including the Spokane Police Department, Washington State Patrol, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and the Spokane Valley Police Department.

• The Spokane Police Department is the case managing agency in this incident. All future communications regarding this investigation will be sent via the SIRR Team.
• The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office will release the names of the deputy involved in the incident at a later time when appropriate.
• 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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