SPD Involved in a Use of Deadly Force on North Cincinnati St

SPD Involved in a Use of Deadly Force on North Cincinnati St

Officer T. Leming, PIO

Thursday, May 21, 2026 at 3:23 p.m.

With regard to the preliminary information on this morning's incident: On May 21^st, 2026 around 5:00 am, officers responded to a report of a Domestic Violence situation in the area of 2000 N. Cincinnati St. 911 received a call around 4:38 am from out of state family members of a male at the location. They reported the male and his wife had not been getting along, as there were ongoing domestic disputes between the two, and he was making suicidal statements. They advised the male had access to a firearm and was at the location with his wife and two children, an infant and a toddler.

911 Dispatchers contacted the wife by phone for further information. She informed dispatch the male had been drinking and was armed with a gun and possibly a knife. She advised 911 that he had been threatening to kill himself if she were to leave him. She also stated she was upstairs at the location with her two children, and he was downstairs in the living room.

When officers arrived on scene, they were able to contact the female through a second story window. She notified them that she was unable to safely get herself and her two children out of the home as the male was downstairs. Moments later officers could hear an argument between the male and female. The female began screaming and crying and was heard yelling "no, no, no" and "please don't". This was followed by more screaming, the male yelling, and mention of the gun. The officers then heard what sounded like a scuffle between the two.

Upon hearing the altercation between the male and the female, officers made exigent entry into the home. They observed a physical struggle between the male and female as the male was holding a gun. Due to the immediate life-threatening situation, officers intervened. There was a brief struggle between officers and the armed male. An officer involved discharged his weapon, striking the male. Officers were able to quickly remove the female and two children, getting them to a safe location, and began life saving measures to the involved male until relieved by medics.

The male succumbed to his injuries at the scene and was pronounced deceased. No one else was reported injured during this incident and there is no ongoing threat to the public.

As standard protocol, the officers involved will be placed on administrative leave. The names of the officers involved will be released on a later date.

The Spokane Independent Investigative Response team (SIIR) will conduct the investigation. The SIIR team is comprised of multiple agencies in Eastern Washington including the Spokane County Sheriff's Office, Washington State Patrol, and the Spokane Police Department.

As an involved agency, Spokane Police Department personnel will not be involved in this investigation in compliance with WAC 139-12.

• All future communications will be sent via the SIIR Team. The Spokane County Sheriff's Office is the case managing agency for this incident.
• The Spokane Police Department will release the names of the officers involved at a later date.
• Once the SIIR Team investigation is complete, the case will be forwarded to the Spokane County Prosecutor's Office for review.
• The name of the deceased will be released by the Spokane County Medical Examiner.

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