Prosecutor: Deputy justified in Spokane Valley shooting

A sheriff’s deputy was justified when he shot and killed a man last October in Spokane Valley, according to prosecutors. Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Jack Driscoll recently decided that Deputy Rustin Olson will not face criminal charges for the shooting of Quentin D. Dodd on Oct. 24. Investigators saw Dodd was carrying an 8-inch “Indian arrowhead” rock when he refused commands to drop it and ran toward Olson. Olson fired three shots at Dodd’s chest, killing him. Dodd had amphetamines in his system, according to investigators. After reviewing the case, Driscoll concluded that Dodd was armed with what appeared to be a deadly weapon and that he disregarded numerous requests to drop the weapon from both Deputy Todd Miller and Deputy Olson, who was retreating when he fired as Dodd closed in on him, according to a news release. According to an interview transcript, Olson said he “was a little nervous” when he first arrived at North Progress Road and East Valleyway Avenue that day after Miller spotted Dodd walking northbound following a dispute at a nearby halfway house where Dodd had been staying. Olson said he’d heard Dodd was armed with the sharp Obsidian rock but wasn’t sure if he also had a gun. “And then I just figured, you know, regardless what it is, it needed to be contained so he didn’t walk into somebody’s house and kill somebody,” Olson told investigators two days after killing Dodd with three gunshots. Spokane police Detective Mark Burbridge, the lead investigator into the fatal shooting, agreed. “Perfect,” he replied to Olson, according to interview transcripts.