Police Department

SPD Officer Involved Shooting

Lt. Terry Preuninger, PIO

Monday, February 12, 2024 at 9:39 a.m.

Updated Feb. 16, 2024

Spokane Police Officers were involved in an officer involved shooting early Monday morning around 12:40 AM.  The following information is preliminary; more information will be released at a later time by the Spokane Independent Investigation Response (SIIR) team.

On February 12^th, at about 12:15 AM the Spokane Police Department received multiple calls from a home in the 1100 block of E. Wellesley advising a woman had just been shot.  An SPD dispatcher taking one of the calls heard a woman yell and what sounded like possible gunfire in the background. 

SPD patrol units responded and made contact with a male who advised he could not get out of the house because of the male with the gun.  He also stated that a woman was inside the home who had been shot. 

Officers were able to facilitate the escape of the unarmed male out of the house and ascertained that the shooter was in a different room than the female victim.  Believing the female was in need of medical attention for multiple gunshot wounds and her life was still in danger, SPD officers entered the home to rescue her.  Once inside they encountered a male with a firearm and exchanged gunfire with him.  The suspect was incapacitated and officers were able to locate and extricate the female, who was transported to the hospital for apparent gunshot wounds. 

SPD officers attempted life saving measures on the male suspect and Spokane medical personnel who had been staged near the location also rendered aid however the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.  

At this time, it is believed three SPD officers fired their weapons during the incident.  As is standard protocol, they will be placed on administrative leave.  Officers were equipped with body worn cameras at the time of the incident. 

The Spokane Independent Investigative Response (SIIR) team will conduct the investigation. 

The SIIR Team is comprised of multiple agencies in eastern Washington, including the Spokane Police Department, Washington State Patrol, Spokane Valley Police Department and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. As an involved agency, Spokane Police Department personnel will not be involved in this investigation in compliance with WAC 139-12.

• The Washington State Patrol is the case managing agency for this incident. All future communications will be sent via the SIIR Team.
• Once the SIIR Team investigation is complete, the case will be forwarded to the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office for review.
• The name of the deceased will be released by the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The following officers were involved in the incident:

• Sergeant Jeremy McVay
• Officer Brandon Fabian
• Officer Ricky LaBelle

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