SWAT sniper identified in Tuesday’s deputy-involved shooting

A 13-year veteran of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and longtime sniper with the agency’s SWAT team fired the shot that struck a Montana fugitive in the hand Tuesday morning, according to a news release. Deputy Mike McNees was identified Friday per agency protocol as the marksman who fired on Bonnie Ulrick, a 37-year-old wanted on felony warrants for assault and weapons charges out of Flathead County, Montana. Ulrick and Eric Heil, 32, barricaded themselves in a Spokane Valley motel early Tuesday. Negotiators reported Ulrick told them she was armed with a pistol and would not surrender, according to court documents. Heil is listed in custody of the Spokane County Jail awaiting extradition back to Montana. Ulrick was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for her injuries and released late Wednesday. She was placed in custody of the King County Jail awaiting extradition as well. McNees has been with the Sheriff’s Office for 13 years, 11 of them as a member of the SWAT team, according to a news release. During his time working in Spokane Valley in the late 1990s, McNees was awarded by the Optimist’s Club for community service, according to Spokesman-Review records. The Spokane Investigative Regional Response team, with lead agency the Washington State Patrol, is heading an investigation into the shooting. It is the third law enforcement-involved shooting in the Spokane area in 2014.