Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Colville officer in fatal shooting identified

The Colville police officer who shot a 21-year-old man to death late Saturday is an 11-year veteran, officials said today. Officer Dan Spring remains on paid administrative leave after shooting Sean Joseph Bergstrasser, 21, multiple times while responding to a report of a vehicle prowling at Benny’s Colville Inn, 915 S. Main St. about 11:30 p.m. Spring spoke with investigators Tuesday, but details of the interview have not been released. Trooper Troy Briggs, spokesman for Washington Sate Patrol, which is leading the investigation, said today he had no information on why Spring fired shots. “It may be something that we release at a later date but that part is still under investigation,” Briggs said. Investigators found a stolen loaded handgun in Bergstrasser’s motel room, where the shooting occurred, but Briggs said it’s still under investigation whether Bergstrasser was armed when he was shot. Bergstrasser graduated from high school in Wasco, Calif., in 2008 and moved to Washington last year to be close to his brother, who was stationed with the Army at Fort Lewis, said his father Mark Bergstrasser. He joined a job corps program that brought him to Eastern Washington, but he was kicked out and moved to the Colville area.