MEDICAL LAKE, Wash. – An armed man is reported to have entered an occupied home and shot his gun multiple times inside the home before going to Eastern State Hospital, where he shot a hospital employee who died at the scene.
When Spokane County deputies arrived at the hospital, one exchanged shots with the suspect. The suspect was then found dead near the car he was believed to have arrived in.
In a press release about the event, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said that their first interaction with the suspect happened during a call about a brush fire earlier in the night.
On September 27 around 12:05 a.m., firefighters responded to a brush fire in the 200 block of East State Route 902. The caller who reported the fire said that they talked to a man at the scene who made wild statements and mentioned aliens.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, they asked for deputies to assist them because a man was there yelling and acting aggressively. However, by the time deputies arrived, the man had left.
Later that night, around 1:40 a.m., a caller said a man with a rifle was at a home near West Idaho Street and South Lake Drive in Medical Lake. They said that the man had entered the home and fired several shots.
The people inside the home hid for their safety and were not injured.
Deputies heard the shots from across the lake, but the suspect left before they cound arrive.
At 1:54 a.m., an Eastern State Hospital employee called in and said that another staff member had been shot in the parking lot and might be dead.
The suspect took the employees radio after shooting them and started transmitting statements about the army coming, according to the Sheriff’s Office description of the call from the hospital employee.
Deputies arrived at the scene and reported that shots were fired and they needed emergency assistance.
The suspect was found dead near the car deputies believed he arrived in. They found a rifle and a handgun near his location and he was wearing “tactical-type gear.” Ammunition and additional equipment was also found in the car.
Because shots were exchanged between the deputy and the suspect, officer-involved protocol was invoked and the Spokane Independent Investigative Response Team opened an investigation into the incident.
Per protocol, the deputy involved was put on administrative leave.
The investigation is still ongoing.
