Police Department

SIIR Investigating Law Enforcement Involved Shootings

Sgt. Teresa Fuller, PIO

Wednesday, August 3, 2022 at 10:31 a.m.

Update: 8/5/22:

SPD releasing names of officers involved in OIS this week

SPD is releasing the names of the four officers who discharged their firearms during the incident on East 3^rd Ave Wednesday morning, 08-03-2022 (see original release below). All officers are currently on administrative leave which is standard after involvement in a critical incident.

The incident is being investigated by SIIR, and the Washington State Patrol is the managing agency for this case. Further information will be released by SIIR. For this incident, the SIIR Team is comprised of multiple agencies, including the Washington State Patrol (WSP), Criminal Investigation Unit (CIU) members from Spokane and Tri-Cities, WSP Spokane Regional Auto Theft Task Force (SRATTF), WSP Spokane Missing and Exploited Children’s Task Force (MECTF), Liberty Lake Police Department, and Airway Heights Police Department.  The WSP Crime Scene Response Team (CSRT) was utilized for forensic evidence documentation and collection at the scene.

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Officer Jacob Siegel (pictured below) was hired by SPD in 2020. He was born and raised in Spokane and obtained a degree in Criminal Justice at Spokane Community College. Officer Siegel has volunteered with the Spokane Police Foundation and Spokane C.O.P.S. shops. He serves on SPD’s Tactical Team- TAC and in his relatively short time with SPD has received community commendation and acknowledgement for exceptional work from SPD departments including DV (Domestic Violence) and Detectives.

Officer Scott Lesser (pictured below) has been with SPD since 2007, first as a Co-Op (Cooperative Education Program) then as a reserve officer before being hired as a full-time SPD officer in 2010. Officer Lesser was born and raised in Spokane and comes from a family of law enforcement members. Lesser has been on SPD’s SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team for 9 years, serving as Assistant SWAT team leader and was named SWAT person of the year in 2020. He also currently serves as a department EMT, a FTO (Field Training Officer), and is trained and/or certified in a number of specialties including ECIT (Enhanced Crisis Intervention Team Training) and CIT (Crisis Intervention Training). Over the course of his 12 years as an SPD officer, Lesser has also served on SPD’s TAC team, SPD’s P.A.C.T. (Patrol Anti-Crime Team), and the United States Marshal Service’s Violent Fugitive Task Force. He received an Employee of the Quarter Award in 2013.

Corporal Brandon Lynch (pictured below) joined SPD in 2013 as a reserve officer and was hired to a full-time position in 2014. He grew up in Spokane attending Mead High School and receiving a degree in business from Eastern Washington University. Cpl. Lynch currently serves on the SWAT team, has been a Marksman since 2020, and is a member of SPD’s Drone Unit.  He formerly served as a FTO. Cpl. Lynch received the Chief’s citation award in 2017 as a member of a patrol team recognized for exceptional community engagement, crime detection, and suppression. In 2018, Cpl. Lynch received recognition for helping to save a person who was overdosing and has received several letters of commendation from community members during his career.

Officer Robert Riggles (pictured below) was hired to SPD in 2018 after serving as an officer for the Filer Police Department in Idaho, and the Federal Way Police Department in Western Washington. During his time at those departments, Riggles was selected as Officer of the Year three times. Since joining the Spokane Police Department, Officer Riggles was selected to and currently serves on the SWAT team and heads up SPD’s FTO program as the Coordinator.

Original Release 8/3/22:

The Spokane Independent Investigative Response (SIIR) Team is investigating two separate, but related, law enforcement involved shootings that occurred early this morning.

This morning, August 3, 2022, just before 1:00am, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office received a call about an incident in Spokane Valley. The initial investigation indicated the suspect(s) were involved in a robbery. At least one of the suspects was reported to have been armed.  Witnesses were able to give a description of the suspect vehicle involved.

Spokane Police Officers located and began to follow the suspect vehicle. Two people fled from the vehicle on foot but were quickly apprehended by officers. Shortly after, the suspect vehicle crashed in the area of 500 E 3^rd. A suspect remained in the vehicle and exchanged gunfire with other officers on scene. One officer sustained minor injuries in the exchange, but was able to be treated and released at the scene.

The suspect then barricaded himself in the vehicle. Resources from SWAT, EDU, Spokane Regional Air Support Unit, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, and Hostage Negotiation teams as well Spokane Fire Department responded in an attempt to bring this to a peaceful conclusion. Just after 5:00am, officers reported the suspect was firing rounds at them again. Law enforcement continued to communicate with the suspect and used a multitude of force options to try to end the incident safely.

A fire also started during the standoff near the vehicle, adding another layer of complexity to the incident. The fire spread to nearby bushes and a building as well as damaging the suspect’s vehicle. It is unknown at this time what caused the fire.

After nearly 5 hours barricaded in the vehicle, the suspect exited and refused all commands by officers to show his hands. Officers reported they could see he was still armed and shortly before 6:00am, three additional law enforcement personnel, two Spokane Police Officers and one Spokane County Sheriff’s detective, fired their service weapons, striking the suspect.

During the standoff, a mutual aid request was made to agencies in North Idaho. Post Falls Police, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and Coeur d’Alene Police responded.

The suspect was pronounced deceased at the scene. The identity of the deceased male will be released by the Medical Examiner’s Office at a later time when appropriate.

No other citizens or law enforcement were injured during this incident.

The SIIR team is processing the scene. Body worn camera footage will be retrieved, as will footage from the surrounding buildings. Witnesses or businesses in the area who may have surveillance footage and have not been contacted are asked to call Crime Check at 509-456-2233. Investigators from the SIIR Team will be reviewing the footage as well as witness statements taken this morning.

This continues to be an active and ongoing investigation.

The SIIR Team is comprised of multiple agencies in eastern Washington, including the Spokane Police Department, the Washington State Patrol and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

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

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