Police Department

Spokane Police Officer Shot In Exchange of Gunfire

Ofc. Joshua Laiva

Friday, September 11, 2020 at 4:43 p.m.

The name of the Spokane Police Officer involved in the Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) from September 11, 2020, at 6309 E. Broadway Avenue is being released. Officer Juan Rodriguez fired his weapon in the OIS.

Senior Police Officer Juan Rodriguez was hired by the Spokane Police Department (SPD) in March of 2014. Prior to SPD, he worked for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office from August 2005 until March 2014.

Officer Rodriguez received the Chief’s Citation Award in 2017 for exceptional work by the Patrol Anti-Crime Team (PACT). He has also received multiple letters of commendation.

Officer Rodriguez attended Idaho State University and received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology.

Original Release:

One Spokane Police Officer was shot during an Officer Involved Shooting incident this morning.  The Officer who was involved in the shooting is at a local hospital in stable condition.

The incident is being investigated by the Spokane Independent Investigative Response (SIIR) Team.

The following is preliminary information gathered from statements of involved parties and witness officers.

Today September 11, 2020, just after 10:47A.M., Spokane Police Officers were involved in an Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) near the parking lot of the Rodeway Inn located at 6309 E Broadway Ave., in the Spokane Valley.  Spokane Police Patrol Anti-Crime Team (PACT) Officers were investigating the report of a robbery/carjacking which had occurred in Airway Heights on the morning of September 10, 2020.  The Airway Heights Police Department had received the report of a carjacking where a witness described that the suspect displayed a .45 caliber pistol.  When attempting to stop the suspect vehicle, a short pursuit ensued with the Airway Heights Police Department.  Due to the suspect’s dangerous driving behavior, the pursuit was called off.  Several hours later, Spokane Police Officers located the suspect vehicle, in the city, and attempted to stop the vehicle again.  A pursuit ensued, however due to the dangerous driving behavior of the suspect, the pursuit was again called off by the Spokane Police Officers for public safety concerns.

Today just after 10:25 A.M., Spokane Police PACT team members were able to locate the suspect vehicle, and when they attempted to stop it, it fled at a high rate of speed.  PACT team members requested assistance from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and the Spokane Valley Police Department to utilize spike strips to possibly immobilize the suspect vehicle.  PACT team Officers located the suspect vehicle in the parking lot of the Rodeway Inn.  As the Officers moved in to make contact at the suspect vehicle, the suspect exited the vehicle and exchanged gunfire with one Officer.  The Officer and the suspect were both struck by the gunfire.  Additional Officers on scene attempted life saving measures on the suspect, however he was pronounced deceased at the scene.  The Officer was shot in the leg and was transported to a local hospital where he is in stable condition.  Several witnesses were detained, questioned, and were cooperating with the investigation.

The identity of the injured Spokane Police Officer will be released at a later date as the investigation continues. 

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

At least one Officer on scene was equipped with a body worn video camera.  Any footage captured by the body camera, as well as any captured by cameras in the area, will be reviewed by investigators.

The Officer Involved Protocol was enacted.  The SIIR Team is on-scene investigating the incident.  The SIIR 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. 

• Washington State Patrol is the case managing agency in this incident.  All future communications on this incident will be sent via the SIIR 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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