Deputy thought suspect had gun

When a suspected car thief threatened to shoot a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy last week and pointed a silver flashlight at him, it looked like he was holding a pistol, officials said Tuesday.

Deputy Thomas Edelbrock then fired two shots. One hit Dustin M. Lowe behind his right ear, officials said, killing him. Lowe had pointed his hands at the deputy, as if he were armed, at least five times during the nearly quarter-mile chase near Medical Lake last Thursday, authorities said.

“Until Edelbrock was interviewed Tuesday morning, he absolutely believed there was a gun,” Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said. Lowe and Edelbrock were 35 feet apart when the deputy fired.

Lowe’s behavior mimicked Montana law enforcement’s previous encounters with the 29-year-old Billings man. In 2003, Lowe was shot twice when he told deputies he had a gun and acted as if he were reaching for it.

Edelbrock, 45, is a 17-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, Reagan said. He remains on paid administrative leave but was expected to return to duty soon.

“I need to have discussions with Deputy Edelbrock to see how he’s handling this,” Sheriff Mark Sterk said at a Tuesday news conference. “If he’s doing all right, he can come back.”

The deputy was patrolling near Medical Lake and Bartholomew roads about 9 a.m. Thursday when he pulled over to investigate a suspicious vehicle, Reagan said. He saw a man slumped behind the wheel of a car, and the windows were fogged.

Edelbrock radioed the 2005 Dodge Neon’s license plate numbers to dispatchers and got out to check the driver, Reagan said. Lowe jumped out of the car and stood beside the driver’s door, and Edelbrock noticed a pocket knife and took it from Lowe, Reagan said.

About the time that dispatchers informed Edelbrock the car had been stolen in Deer Lodge, Mont., Lowe ran into an open field toward North Silver Lake, Reagan said. As the deputy chased Lowe, the suspect yelled he had a gun.

After crossing railroad tracks, Lowe turned around and pointed both hands in a gun stance, Reagan said. The deputy took cover, pulled his gun and dropped to one knee, but he did not shoot, Reagan said.

Lowe repeated the behavior at least twice during the chase, Reagan said, and each time, Edelbrock could not see a gun and repeated his pattern: taking cover, aiming, but not firing.

When the deputy spotted Lowe again, he ordered the suspect to show his hands. When Lowe’s hands came up, it appeared to the deputy that he had a semi-automatic pistol, Reagan said.

Edelbrock told deputies who arrived on scene that Lowe had a pistol, Reagan said. The 51/2-inch-by-3/4-inch silver-matte mini-flashlight was found under Lowe’s body.

When Lowe’s car was searched, detectives found drugs, swords, a pistol-replica pellet gun, pornography and children’s clothing.

The investigation into the shooting continues, Reagan said. The information gathered by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and Spokane Police Department will then be forwarded to the prosecutor’s office to determine if the shooting was justified. “I have every reason to believe it was,” Sterk said.

Officials believe Lowe was watching child pornography on a DVD player when he was parked in the stolen car, Reagan said.

Children’s clothing was found in the car’s trunk, and three schools are near where Lowe was spotted.