Woman shot in hand by deputies following Spokane Valley standoff

A 37-year-old woman wanted on a felony warrant out of Montana was shot by law enforcement following a standoff at a Spokane Valley motel early Tuesday, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said. Bonnie Ulrick was shot in the hand and received medical attention at the scene of a motel-room standoff this morning, according to the Washington State Patrol, which is handling the multi-agency investigation into the incident. Negotiators and a SWAT team were called to the Motel 6 at 1919 N. Hutchinson Road around 3 a.m., Deputy Mark Gregory said. Ulrick and Eric Heil, 32, were refusing to leave the building. Both were wanted on felony warrants, Gregory said. “Negotiators were having conversations and trying to get them out peacefully, which was the intent,” he said. Crime scene tape blocked off the south parking lot of the motel Tuesday morning as investigators surveyed the scene. A sniper was posted on a van parked in the lot of a nearby vacant building, WSP Trooper Jeff Sevigney said. Crime scene tape had been set up around the van as well. A mattress was still propped up facing the parking lot in the room where the two were staying. Sevigney said Heil and Ulrick attempted to barricade themselves in the room using the mattress, and SWAT team members had torn down the exterior wall in the course of their operations. At some point, the woman pointed a weapon out the window at law enforcement, Deputy Gregory said. The WSP later said Ulrick was armed with a pistol. She was shot by SWAT team members and will be transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for further treatment, according to a news release. Heil was taken into custody without further incident. The shooting occurred around 5:30 a.m. The Spokane Investigative Regional Response team has been called in, per agency protocol, to investigate the deputy-involved shooting, Gregory said. Classes were canceled for the day at Spokane Valley High School, 2011 N. Hutchinson Road, because it was within the incident perimeter established by investigators.