One of the two Spokane County sheriff's deputies shot on Tuesday near Spangle, in eastern Washington state, has died, and the second deputy is on life support and is not expected to survive, the Spokane County Sheriff's Office announced on Wednesday afternoon, November 4. The update, reported by KEYW from the sheriff's office statement, raises the death toll from Tuesday's domestic-violence shooting and firefight to four people, including the suspected gunman. It is a major new development in the case Awaaz Punjab first reported on Tuesday, when three people — the suspect and two other people found at the home — were dead and both deputies were fighting for their lives in critical condition.
Source: KEYW 98.3, reporting the Spokane County Sheriff's Office statement (Nov. 4, 2026)
The sheriff's office said the first deputy died late on Tuesday evening from his injuries. The second deputy remains on life support; the sheriff's office said he is an organ donor, and that he will continue to save lives through that donation. In its statement, the sheriff's office said: “Although we know our Deputies knew the risks, they bravely moved toward danger to protect others they did not know. They did this with honor and with an unwavering sense of duty to their oath to serve and protect the citizens of Spokane County; they heroically placed themselves in mortal danger.”
Source: KEYW 98.3, reporting the Spokane County Sheriff's Office statement (Nov. 4, 2026)
On Tuesday, both deputies were reported in critical condition at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, and three people were dead at the scene. On Wednesday, the sheriff's office confirmed the first deputy had died on Tuesday evening, and said the second is on life support and not expected to survive. The deputies' names, and the names of the suspect and the two other people who died, have still not been released.
How the shooting unfolded on Tuesday afternoon
The incident began at about 2:25 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3, when deputies were sent to a home in the 18700 block of South Smythe Road, near Spangle in southern Spokane County, which borders Idaho, Sheriff John Nowels said at a news conference. A woman had run to a neighbour's house and said her brother had shot her. Investigators determined that the suspect had an active felony warrant — for eluding, according to the sheriff — and that there might be other victims inside the home, the sheriff's office said.
Source: Associated Press, via Police1 (Nov. 4, 2026)
At about 3:15 p.m., fearing for the safety of people who might still be inside, SWAT team members and deputies approached the home and attempted to breach the door. “SWAT team members and deputies approached the house, attempted to breach the door and were met with gunfire,” Nowels said. Two deputies were hit and suffered life-threatening wounds; three deputies returned fire. One person was found dead inside the home and another in the yard, and the suspect was also dead, the sheriff said. The woman who had reported being shot by her brother was treated for injuries described as non-life-threatening.
Source: Associated Press, via Police1 (Nov. 4, 2026)
With both deputies critically injured, immediate life-saving medical aid was requested, including Life Flight helicopters, and the Washington State Patrol and other agencies closed a portion of Interstate 90 and U.S. Highway 195 for the emergency transport, the sheriff's office said. One deputy was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center by patrol car and the other was flown by Life Flight helicopter, according to the Spokesman-Review's account. Officers from agencies across the region, some from as far as Kootenai County in Idaho, converged on the scene and later on the hospital.
Source: The Spokesman-Review, via Officer.com (Nov. 4, 2026)
The two deputies: young officers, young families, names not yet released
Sheriff Nowels described both wounded men as young members of the SWAT team — one a serving SWAT member and the other a K-9 deputy who had recently been a member of SWAT — and said both have very young families. “Both of our deputies are fighting for their lives. Both have very young families,” he said on Tuesday. The sheriff's office has not released either deputy's name and has asked for privacy for their families while identifications and notifications are completed. Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam, who was standing for re-election on Tuesday, cancelled his election party in light of the shooting, the Spokesman-Review reported.
Source: The Spokesman-Review, via Officer.com (Nov. 4, 2026)
Who is investigating — and what is still unknown
The Spokane Police Department has taken over the investigation into the deaths, and the Washington State Patrol is investigating the deputies' use of deadly force, Nowels said. The three deputies who fired their weapons were placed on administrative leave, KHQ reported. Authorities have not yet identified the suspect or the two other people who died at the home, have not said what the suspect's felony warrant stemmed from beyond eluding, and have not established whether the suspect was killed by deputies' gunfire or by his own hand, KIRO 7 reported. What set off the violence inside the family home has also not been explained.
Source: The Spokesman-Review, via Officer.com (Nov. 4, 2026)
A county that rarely loses an officer to gunfire
Line-of-duty deaths are infrequent in the Spokane area. According to the Spokesman-Review, Spokane County had not seen a shooting death of a law-enforcement officer since July 20, 1983, when Spokane Police Department Detective Brian Frederick Orchards was shot and killed on a stakeout while observing thieves suspected of taking a valuable gun collection. The county's most recent line-of-duty death before this week was different in kind: Spokane County Sheriff's Sergeant Kenneth Salas was struck and killed by a motorist on Interstate 90 near the Four Lakes exit on August 9, 2025, while he was attempting to remove debris from the freeway, weeks from retirement after a 34-year law-enforcement career.
Source: The Spokesman-Review, via Officer.com (Nov. 4, 2026)
What happens next
The next steps are the formal identifications: the sheriff's office is expected to name the two deputies once families have been fully notified, and investigators are expected to identify the suspect and the other two people who died as the Spokane Police Department's investigation proceeds. The second deputy's organ donation will be carried out under the hospital's and the sheriff's office's honour arrangements for fallen officers. The Washington State Patrol's review of the deputies' use of force, and the police investigation into what happened inside the home before deputies arrived, are both ongoing, and no timeline for their findings has been announced.
This story follows Awaaz Punjab's first report on the shooting itself, published while both deputies were still in critical condition. Read the first report: three dead, two deputies fighting for their lives in Spangle