A man was shot and killed late on Tuesday morning outside the Spokane Valley Library in Spokane Valley, Washington, and a person who telephoned police claiming involvement in the shooting was detained nearby, Spokane Valley Police Chief Dave Ellis told reporters at the scene.

Source: NonStop Local KHQ

The shooting happened at about 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, near the intersection of East Sprague Avenue and North Herald Road, beside the library and not far from Spokane Valley City Hall. Deputies were sent to the area after 911 calls reported gunfire, and dispatch traffic put the first calls at about 11:18 a.m.

What deputies found at the scene

Deputies and firefighters found a man on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds. Emergency crews began lifesaving measures, including CPR, but the man died at the scene, according to the accounts given by Chief Ellis and local reporting from KHQ. Roads around the intersection were shut down while investigators worked, and several nearby buildings were secured.

A short time later, a person contacted law enforcement by telephone, said they had been involved in the shooting and reported that they were nearby on Sprague Avenue, according to the reports. Officers detained that person. A firearm was recovered in the surrounding area, although investigators had not confirmed whether it was the weapon used in the shooting.

The ballot-box question

The library is an official ballot drop-off location in Spokane County, and the shooting happened on Election Day, November 3, while residents were still returning ballots. That proximity drew immediate questions. KHQ reported that witnesses at the scene said the man who was shot had been harassing people at the ballot box. Police said they could not draw any connection between the shooting and the ballot box, and Chief Ellis said investigators were unaware of any link between the violence and ballot drop-off activity.

The witness account and the police position are not the same thing, and readers should treat them separately: what witnesses told a local station is an account from the scene, while the police position, on the record, is that no election connection has been established. The library was locked down during the response and, by local accounts, closed early at about 1:30 p.m.

Second fatal shooting in the Spokane area in two days

The library shooting was the second deadly shooting in the Spokane area in roughly 30 hours. Shortly before 5 a.m. on Monday, November 2, a man was shot near 53rd Avenue and Fiske Court on Spokane's South Hill. Police identified that victim as 26-year-old Rashad McGuffey. On November 3, Spokane police announced the arrest of 25-year-old Modesto R. Briggs, who was booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder in that separate case. Police have not linked the two shootings.

What happens next

The Spokane County medical examiner is expected to identify the man who died once family has been notified. Investigators must still establish what led to the gunfire, whether the man who died and the person detained knew each other, and whether the recovered firearm was the weapon used. Any charging decision will rest with Spokane County prosecutors once the investigation file reaches them. Until police release names and a charging decision, the detained person is a detained person in an investigation, not a convicted shooter, and the motive remains officially unknown.