SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed Wednesday night on 16th Avenue in Spokane Valley in what authorities describe as a mental health crisis that escalated into a fatal confrontation.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office responded around 8 p.m. to the area just west of Pines Road, where the teenager was reportedly experiencing a mental health crisis and threatening to harm himself.According to the sheriff’s office, the boy jumped in front of a car traveling down 16th Avenue, forcing it to stop. The teenager then got inside the vehicle, which contained a driver and two women. The driver was armed.The driver was able to get the teenager out of the car, but neighbors and the sheriff’s office say an argument continued outside the vehicle. The driver then shot the teenager several times. A bullet hole remains visible on a nearby house.The driver remained at the scene when deputies arrived. Officers detained the driver and performed life-saving measures on the boy, who died at the scene.The teenager’s grandmother told 4 News Now that her grandson was “a wonderful child with a whole future in front of him.” She said he had been struggling mentally since his mother died unexpectedly about two years ago.The family revealed that the boy was the one who found his mother when she died, and that he had been “walking around with a great deal of pain” ever since. His grandmother described him as “a kid in a crisis” who needed help.The sheriff’s office has detained the driver but made no arrests. The shooting remains under investigation.Authorities are asking anyone with information about the incident to come forward.
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