Unarmed Pregnant Woman Shot During Drug Raid
A pregnant, unarmed woman was shot during a drug raid in Spokane on Friday morning and she remained hospitalized late last night as investigators pieced together what happened in the county's third officer-involved shooting in four weeks.
A Washington State Patrol detective sergeant shot the woman, who according to the sheriff's spokesman is 39 weeks pregnant, while serving a search warrant at the Victoria Apartments, 1405 N. Lincoln St., according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.
The Sheriff's Office is investigating the shooting along with members of the Spokane Police Department and the WSP.
Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan confirmed that officers found no weapons in the home but did find quantities of drugs during the execution of the search warrant.
"During the entry, a female suspect inside the apartment became non-compliant with officers' instructions," Reagan wrote in a news release. "When she attempted to flee out a bedroom window, officers attempted to restrain her. During efforts to prevent her escape, a shot was fired and the woman suffered a minor wound to her upper torso. She fell out the window and received first aid from containment officers stationed at the back of the apartments."
He offered no further details about why the detective used deadly force, which law enforcement officers are trained to use if they believe their lives are in danger.
Reagan did not identify the woman but said she was a drug suspect and that a multiagency task force from the Moscow-Pullman area "had identified residents at the Spokane apartment complex as suppliers of crack cocaine sold in southeast Washington."