Shot fired in burglar encounter

A Spokane couple returned home Monday to find an armed burglar inside, leading to a violent confrontation in which a gunshot was fired before the intruder fled and the residents called police, authorities said.

Because the residents, identified as James Lindsay and Bridget Peterson, worried that a second intruder might still be hiding inside, a SWAT team stormed the North Side home, which was empty.

The 9:15 a.m. incident began when Lindsay and Peterson returned from a dental appointment and saw a gate opened and a window broken at the back of the house.

Lindsay went through the front door and confronted the burglar. A shot was fired during the altercation but didn’t hit anyone. Lindsay, however, was bashed over the head with what he told sheriff’s deputies was a pistol. He suffered a minor cut. Peterson said she thought she saw a second burglar peering out through window blinds.

Sgt. Dave Reagan of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said it was not clear who fired the shot.

The home is on East Birch Avenue, about a block from Northpointe shopping center.

About the same time, city police received a call of a man running with a gun near a motel and Northpointe. Streets in the neighborhood were blocked off and traffic was detoured around the scene.

The case remains under investigation.