NINE MILE FALLS, Wash. – A Stevens County Sheriff’s deputy was shot during a gunfire exchange with a burglary suspect in Nine Mile Falls early Tuesday morning and is expected to make a full recovery, while the suspect later died from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Stevens County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a burglary call on Suncrest Drive in Nine Mile Falls early Tuesday morning. The caller was not home at the time but saw someone break into their home on security cameras.
When deputies arrived at the scene, the sheriff’s office says they exchanged gunshots with the suspect, and one deputy was hit. The injured deputy was rushed into surgery but was awake and alert late Tuesday and is expected to make a full recovery.
Shortly after the shooting, neighbors started receiving text alerts about the situation. North Suncrest Drive was blocked off for hours, and neighbors living along the road were told to stay in their homes while the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office and Washington State Patrol continued to investigate.
“We ended up going back to bed and we woke up to more text messages coming through. That was around 6:30 and we could see lights coming through the bay window. Then we were like, ‘oh this is kind of serious. This is more than a little something,'” said Hannah Finley, a neighbor.
Stevens County Sheriff’s deputies say they made contact with the suspect around 7:30 a.m., but he immediately stopped communicating. Law enforcement sent a drone inside the home and believed he was already dead.
The sheriff’s office says deputies went inside the home and found the suspect was injured, possibly from a self-inflicted gunshot, and he later died.
Finley expressed concern about the violence occurring in what residents consider a safe area.
“It gives a little anxiety because there are a lot of us that live out here that have that idea that it shouldn’t happen out here. We’re far enough away from Spokane County and the inner city that we think we’re a little safer, a little more protected,” Finley said.
The Washington State Patrol will be in charge of investigating the shooting.
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