MEDICAL LAKE, Wash – A crime spree that started with a brush fire ended with an Eastern State Hospital employee dead and the man who killed him possibly shot to death by sheriff’s deputies.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office released the information Saturday morning, warning that this is initial information involving multiple agencies and is still under investigation.
According to the sheriff’s office, the first call cam in just after midnight about a brush fire in the 200 block of E. SR 902.
A witness said there was a man there “making wild statements, mentioning aliens.”
The man was gone by the time deputies arrived.
About an hour later, someone called 911 and said a man with a rifle broke into a home near W. Idaho Street and S. Lake Drive.
The sheriff’s office says the man entered the home and fired several shots, but no one was hurt.
Again, he was gone before deputies arrived.
Then, deputies could hear gunshots across the lake.
Right around that time, an Eastern State Hospital employee said a staff member was shot in the parking lot. That person was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The suspect took the victim’s radio and began transmitting statements about an army coming,” the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies arrived at ESH and quickly reported that shots had been fired.
The sheriff’s office did not say if they killed the man or if he killed himself.
The suspect was found dead near his vehicle. The sheriff’s office said a rifle and handgun were found nearby and the man appeared to be wearing “tactical-type gear.”
Deputies say there was more ammunition and equipment in the vehicle.
The SIIR protocol has now been invoked, which is standard when law enforcement is involved in a shooting. The Spokane Police Department is the lead agency investigating the use of force.
The deputy who fired his weapon is immediately placed on leave.
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