Police Department

Juvenile Shooting Suspect Arrested

Ofc. John O'Brien, PIO

Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at 3:28 p.m.

The Spokane Police Department (SPD) arrested a juvenile shooting suspect after surveillance video contradicted his statement claiming he had been the victim.

On January 28, 2021 around 1:00 p.m., SPD responded to a report of a shooting on the 600 block of W. Maxwell Avenue.  Multiple callers reported hearing gunshots and seeing a male running from the area.

Officers arrived and contacted one of the callers who said she saw a younger male in a gray hoodie and red t-shirt running through an empty lot carrying a black handgun.  A passerby told officers a car in the parking lot was “hissing.”  An SUV in the parking lot had a flat tire. The owner said the tire was not flat when she parked there earlier.  As the tire was being changed, officers located a small hole on the front of the tire consistent with a bullet entry.

Officers followed the footprints in the snow to an alley where they found a handgun setting on a piece of heavy equipment between buildings.  During that time, other officers had contacted a juvenile male who admitted he had been the one running through the parking lot. However, he claimed he had been shot at.  The male told officers that a black SUV had been following him, pulled up near him to yell something, then fired at him.  There was no Probable Cause to arrest the juvenile and he was free to leave.

Upon further investigation, multiple surveillance videos from the surrounding area showed the previously contacted juvenile on a route from the parking lot where the shots were fired, all the way to the alley where the gun was found. He can been seen on video discarding the gun.

SPD setup surveillance across the street from where the gun was abandoned.  Around 3:00 p.m., the suspect returned to the alley and approached the heavy equipment where the gun had been placed.  When the suspect realized the gun was no longer there he turned and began to walk away from the area.  SPD made contact and immediately detained him.

The 16-year-old male was booked into the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Facility for Firearms Unlawful Possession and Aiming or Discharging Firearms Dangerous Weapons.

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