Documents: Suicidal man shot by police had pellet gun

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November 3, 2009 in City

Meghann M. Cuniff The Spokesman-Review

A reportedly suicidal man shot by Spokane Valley police Friday was armed with a pellet gun that resembles a Colt .45 semi-automatic pistol, newly filed documents show.

David J. Glidden, 27, was shot twice in the upper body after emerging from a Spokane Valley home armed with the Airsoft pellet pistol. Officer Aaron Childress fired a handgun and Officer Griffin Criswell fired a 12-gauge shotgun at him. Some of those rounds went through the wall of a neighbor’s home.

Glidden, who is in stable but serious condition at a local hospital, had just exited a home at 4727 E. Third Ave., where he’d been living for only a few days after breaking up with his girlfriend, a friend told detectives.

Glidden was home alone at the time of the shooting; he’d called a friend he met through Alcoholics Anonymous and threatened suicide, according to a search warrant filed today in Spokane County District Court.

“(Glidden) said he was ‘going to kill somebody or kill himself,’” according to the warrant.

That warrant was used to search the home, where police seized seven empty Budweiser cans, according to the document. The man told his friend he’d been drinking when he first called about 7 a.m. When the man called again about four hours later, his “attitude had changed significantly,” according to the search warrant.

“He told (his friend) he had the gun in his hand and was cocking it,” according to the warrant. “(His friend) could hear the sound of what he thought was a gun being cocked.”

Childress was near the southwest corner of the residence, and Criswell near the southeast corner when they fired shots, according to documents.

Investigators found three spent .45-caliber shell casings and one spent shotgun shell casing. A neighbor said last week that he heard five shots and that rounds blew through a side wall of his home.

Childress and Criswell have more than 10 years of law enforcement experience, police said.

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14 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

IHike4Fun on November 03 at 3:29 p.m.
… 'how to murder citizens' …
What an inane comment. This guy must be visiting from Portland.

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SpokaneIsFun on November 03 at 4:37 p.m.
This is why some agencies don't use the shotgun. Can't control where the pellets go.

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William Mahaney on November 03 at 5:13 p.m.
Our law enforcement officers acted correctly. There is no way they could have known that the firearm held by the man was a pellet gun. All of the information they had indicated that the man was armed with a real weapon and was ready to fire it. Let's all try to give our law enforcement folks the real benefit of the doubt. Would you like to be in their place and make a split second decision when a gun is pointed at you? Would you like to put your life on the line several times a year? And what of your families? Our law enforcement officers do have families…wives, children, significant others. Have you ever witnessed a ceremony for a law enforcement officer who died in the line of duty? Have you seen the officer's family and loved ones and colleagues at such a ceremony?

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two bit on November 03 at 5:28 p.m.
when law enforcement comes to your house dont pull a gun or any weapon you will get shot its not a game

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Pat OLeary on November 03 at 7:42 p.m.
While this was probably a justifiable shooting, the police have only themselves to blame for the mistrust of the average citizen. There have been too many incidents that shouldn't have involved violence by the police. We all know the long litany of shot, dead, beaten victims that later were found to be totally innocent of any crime, or certainly, not deserving of dying.

When you see the police cheering and high-fiving after the exoneration of Jay Olsen you get the feeling that it us against them and they don't give a damn if their brothers in the Police Guild are guilty or not. The officer responsible for the death of Otto Zehm is stripped of his gun and badge, but is still used as a training officer for rookie cops. That's a real wtf moment.

State patrolmen lying about fake degrees and getting a year of paid leave before getting a slap on the wrist. They wonder why we don't trust them? I think they understand, but unfortunately, the good and bad are both painted with the same broad brush. The good guys need to stop protectng the rotten apples, and then, maybe, they will regain our trust.

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Rifleman__Dodd on November 03 at 9:09 p.m.
Paintball guns are all identifed by flouresent orange paint on the front of them.

Shoot first and ask questions later….

While honoring the threat.. they should still wait till the guy fires a round.

It also seems that with all that training they cant hit an arm/leg/thigh, but they always hit the chest.

And the Shotgun? How stupid was that? With a shot gun you always fire a round in the air since the noise pretty much incompacitates anyone near it anyway. You can hear a shotgun for miles during duck/pheasant season.

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lewis on November 03 at 11:07 p.m.
Just another example of cops gone wild. The normal thought patterns they used to use are gone and now it is kill first and ask no questions. If I guy had a gun held on them they could have taken cover. But instead stand and start a firefight. And what if some one was hurt in the house that received several stray bullets would that be OK to?

Pat is right we have put up with far too much injustice by our law enforcement to just give them the old slap on the back and say job well done. It is them and us. And sadly we are on the losing side of the gun.

And even sadder since the SPD is investigating this shooting it will be found the officers acted in self-defense case closed. And if the guy ever gets to leave the hospital, Steve Tucker will slap a charge on him faster then a cop can eat a dozen donuts.

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john_D on November 04 at 7:36 a.m.
what I would like to know is, do the Spokane Sheriffs have any protocol for suicide calls? Do they even have rubber bullets?
If they were expecting a suicidal person, why weren't more precautions taken upon there approach to the residence?
Why a shotgun? Why is that police officer so defensive and not one word of regret mentioned in her statement on the news?
This reaction by law enforcment raises more questions as to the professionalism of our “so called protecters”
Did they quietly approach neigbors and safely remove them before consideration confronting a suicidal man with a gun?
What could have been done different? How come these details of the incident have not been reported to justify the officers actions on the scene?
Hmmmmmmmmmmm I wonder?

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lina on November 05 at 12:33 a.m.
This is a suicidal man, not a homicidal one, reportedly with a gun. A gun which turned out to be an Air Soft gun found after a search warrant was executed. I find it hard to believe that the protocol for attempting to help save a suicidal/depressed person's life is to show up with a SHOTGUN, and a handgun and nothing or anyone else. These Airsoft guns are marked with orange tips. I'm usually on the side of the police as I've been in the military, and have many family members in law enforcement, but this is RIDICULOUS! David, the real person not just the “suicidal man” obviously did indeed, not, fire any kind of shot. If the officers were close enough to feel they could be killed and if he had directly pointed the Air gun at him, wouldn't they be observant enough or able to see the orange as there have been reports of. It sort of seems from the reports they weren't all that close. Maybe he wasn't pointing it if they couldn't see the orange either. Maybe it was just on his person or in his hand. It's not all that easy to hit someone with a handgun, especially when you are in the process of walking out of your door, and onto your little tiny front porch (as the news photos show) the Air Soft was found apparently on the steps barely outside the screendoor. He didn't even make it from the front of his house. What I mean is, if 2 trained police officers are shooting directly at him and one nearly kills a baby in the next door neighbor's house, what are the odds a man walking out his door, could have hit one of the officers even if it was real. Like someone else said, David had fired no shots. This is a suicidal man. Why so many shots by the police? Why such force on a depressed person.

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becca2cool on November 09 at 4:31 p.m.
The police officers responding on this distress call to check on the suicidal young man, were aware he had a gun, yes! but, they didn't give the poor guy a chance!!! They should have thought up a strategic move before they swiftly began to shoot!
It's so sad to hear David was depressed over a recent breakup w/a girlfriend, he was drinking beer, and he was carrying a pellot gun. He did not “deserve” to be shot in the torso!!! I'm hoping the police officers loose their Badges! They did'nt handle “this situation” in the right manner. You don't shoot a suicidal person in the torso! He never even tried to fire one shot from his pellot gun! What happened to human compassion?? I heard David may never walk again! He may not even survive…I hope he does live…

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calvinandhobbes on November 09 at 5:51 p.m.
It seems that some of you haven't seen many airsoft guns. of the airsoft guns that i have seen, only half have an organge tip on the end. the tip alone, doesn't mean that is is not a gun. i read an article that said that more and more criminals are having their guns painted to look like toys that way, the police are less likely to shoot them if they point the gun at the police. also, it is unwise to think that you should wait to be fired upon. i dont know anyone who can run even 100 FPS, and handguns go many times that speed. Also, i doubt that any of you have gone through any police training so you wouldn't know what you are talking about to some degree. and rubber bullets wont stop someone who is drunk or high on drugs from attacking you. also, they aren't trained to shoot for extemities when the guy has a gun (even if it is later identified as an airsoft gun).
i also hope that the man lives, but the police were not at fault.

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becca2cool on November 09 at 7:12 p.m.
The police “were” at fault in this tragic incident that should have been handled alot differently!! Theres way more to this story than has been mentioned…Something was really wrong with the way the police officers handled this situation…

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natas1876 on November 10 at 10:14 p.m.
more cops are killed in car crashes then by pepole with guns so the job is not that dangeros

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calvinandhobbes on November 11 at 2:30 p.m.
If you want to use that line of thought, how come a kid can drive a car at 15 and one half, but not own a gun until 18, even though many more people are killed by cars then by guns.

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