SPOKANE, Wash. — A shooting in Spokane County left four people dead, including a Spokane County deputy. A second deputy is not expected to survive.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office reported the second deputy was surrounded by family, on life support, and waiting for organ donations to be organized Wednesday night, calling the loss unthinkable and devastating.
“A lot of the questions I have about the why -- what caused this, why did this person do this -- we don’t have answers to,” Sheriff John Nowels said.
According to the sheriff’s office, deputies headed to a home near Spangle Tuesday afternoon after a woman showed up at a neighbor’s house with a gunshot wound.
Investigators said the shooter shot and killed two other people before barricading himself inside and opening fire on deputies when they got there.
“Two of our deputies sustained life threatening wounds and were transported to Sacred Heart,” Nowels said.
The sheriff’s office said one of the deputies died hours later and the other is not expected to survive.
Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane was surrounded by law enforcement vehicles and deputies in dress uniforms in the hours after the shooting.
The two deputies have not yet been identified.
“Both have very young families. Both have two very young children each,” Nowels said. “I would ask that we respect their privacy while they are up in the hospital and we are able to give them the time with their loved ones that they deserve.”
Nowels said three deputies are on leave after returning fire on the shooter, who was later found dead inside the home. The home was visibly damaged and remained at the center of a large crime scene Wednesday. KIRO 7 spotted crews removing a body from inside.
“There is no outstanding threat to the public right now,” Nowels said. “There is a family that has had something very tragic happen to them, a lot of loss of life, as well as the sheriff’s office family, the family of law enforcement.”
An independent investigative team is now handling the case.
A spokesperson said more details on what led up to the shooting will be released Thursday.