Police Department

SIIR Investigating Monroe Rd. Incident

Ofc. Daniel Strassenberg, PIO

Wednesday, April 3, 2024 at 4:31 p.m.

This is the initial SIIR release pertaining to an officer-involved shooting which occurred on 3-29-2024. The information is preliminary and has been gathered by detectives using sources of information currently available, including body-worn camera footage from the involved deputies, and physical evidence obtained from the scene.

On 3-29-24 at about 2:31pm, multiple specialty units with the Spokane County Sherriff’s Office (SCSO) responded to the 30300 block of North Monroe Road to assist the Stevens County Sherriff’s Office with an arrest of a wanted subject. Stevens County was attempting to arrest a male wanted for Child Rape and Child Molestation charges. Deputies with Stevens County were trying to locate the male after a failed court appearance earlier in the week regarding the sexual assault charges.

Stevens County contacted the wanted subject at the Monroe Road location. The suspect was not cooperative and refused to show his hands, making comments asking officers to shoot him. Due to the threat posed by the suspect and his lack of cooperation, Stevens County requested the assistance of the Spokane County Sherriff’s Office. SWAT officers along with Crisis Negotiators responded to the home to assist. After the home was contained, deputies facilitated the safe exit of two female occupants. Shortly after, Crisis Negotiators established phone contact with the suspect. Negotiators spent several hours talking with the suspect, trying to bring a peaceful resolution to the incident. The suspect would go back and forth on his level of cooperation and at times would exit the home, but would not respond to deputies when asked if he was armed. The male would continually retreat back into the residence when pressed by deputies to cooperate on safety concerns. Deputies had extensive conversations with the man, trying to get him to surrender. At about 3:45pm, deputies obtained a signed search warrant to enter the home and affect the arrest of the suspect. A short time later, the suspect told deputies that he would be coming out, but that never happened. Deputies advised the suspect of the possibility of force being used if he failed to comply. The suspect would continue his actions of briefly leaving the home and at one point, was standing on the hood of a vehicle near the residence. Deputies again asked the suspect to lift up his jacket to ensure he was not armed, but he would not comply. The suspect would eventually walk out near a gate by the residence. Deputies took the opportunity to try and take him into custody, but the male fled back into his home. Communication commenced again with the suspect, but he refused to surrender even after receiving a recorded message from his girlfriend.

After several hours of communication and attempting to de-escalate the situation, deputies inserted chemical munitions into the residence in an attempt to force the suspect to exit the home, but that endeavor failed. Deputies continued communication with the suspect, but he would not surrender. Deputies started the process of entering the home through the front door. After forcing open the front door, deputies breached a bedroom window near where it was believed the suspect was hiding. Upon forcing the window open, deputies contacted the suspect and responded to an immediate threat that resulted in the use of lethal force. Deputies took several safety steps to ensure the suspect was no longer a danger before making entry and beginning emergency medical treatment. Life Flight responded to the scene and medics also provided life saving measures to the suspect. Despite the efforts of deputies and on scene medical professionals, the suspect succumbed to his injuries and died at the scene. The identity of the deceased will be released by the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Officer. The investigation is in its preliminary stages. More information will be released as appropriate.

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, The Spokane County Sherrif’s Office/Spokane Valley Police personnel will not be involved in this investigation in compliance with WAC 139-12.

• This investigation is being conducted by the Spokane Independent Investigative Response Team (SIIR), with the Spokane Police Department as the case managing agency. All future communications regarding this incident will be sent via the SIIR Team.
• The Spokane County Sherrif’s Office may release the names of the involved deputies as appropriate.
• Once the SIIR Team investigation is complete, the case will be forwarded to the Spokane County Prosecutors Office for review

• Newer
• Older