In brief: Police pursuit ends with shots fired

A police pursuit erupted in gunfire Monday north of Coeur d’Alene in what investigators are calling an officer-involved shooting.

Details were sketchy late Monday, but authorities confirmed two people from a fleeing Jeep Cherokee were taken to Kootenai Medial Center with unspecified injuries after the shooting. The incident began about 7 p.m. when an Idaho State Police trooper tried to stop a vehicle on U.S. Highway 95 at East Ohio Match Road, which is just south of the Garwood area.

The trooper contacted the driver, but the vehicle fled as the trooper was approaching the vehicle again, leading to a short pursuit that ended with shots fired at Ramsey Road, south of Highway 53.

Kootenai County sheriff’s Lt. Stu Miller said the trooper fired shots but said investigators have not determined how many or if the officer was fired on. The Sheriff’s Department is investigating.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Mayor, sheriff discuss violence in Spokane

Several local officials are hosting a forum tonight about preventing violence.

Spokane Mayor Mary Verner and Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich are among those scheduled to talk at the event, which will start at 6 p.m. in the City Council Chambers of Spokane City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.

The event is described as a “conversation” that will “consider the causes of violence and its effects on citizens and law enforcement officers.”

FBI crime statistics from 2009, the most recent year available, show that the rate of violent crime in the city of Spokane was among the lowest since 1985.

Jonathan Brunt

Driver who allegedly hit students out of jail

A Spokane woman accused of hitting two pedestrians while driving near Gonzaga University was released from jail Monday on her own recognizance.

Sarah Elizabeth Burford, 33, allegedly registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.093 on a portable Breathalyzer test administered after the crash at Hamilton Street and Sharp Avenue, which occurred just before midnight.

Burford told police she “looked away from the roadway for a short time and then heard an impact.” according to court documents. She said she’d consumed two sweet tea alcoholic drinks about an hour and a half before the crash, police said.

Dana Walters, 21, has been released from the hospital; Lara Tuthill, 19, remained in intensive care Monday, police said. Both are on Gonzaga’s cross-country team.

Meghann M. Cuniff