High-Speed Chase Ends In Fatality

A Spokane County sheriff’s deputy fired four shots at an armed, suicidal man Wednesday morning, after a high-speed chase in the Valley.

Shot in the head, Don Stowell, 41, was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Sheriff John Goldman said he doesn’t know whether the shot that killed Stowell came from the deputy or Stowell’s own gun.

After the shooting, detectives searched Stowell’s home and found a suicide note, Goldman said. They also noticed a propane burner had been turned on inside.

Stowell was heavily armed during the chase.

Three handguns and a rifle were found inside his car.

Deputies heard a shot fired inside the car as they approached it with their guns drawn, officials said.

One deputy, described by Goldman as an “experienced, decorated officer,” fired his gun through Stowell’s passenger side window. The deputy pulled open the car door and swept the guns out onto the pavement.

Stowell, who did not have a criminal record, moved into Trailer Inn’s RV Park on East Fourth last month, officials said. He lived with his wife and her teenage daughter until last weekend, when the women moved out.

Deputies went to Stowell’s trailer home Monday night about 10 p.m., after a relative said he was threatening to kill himself.

When deputies arrived, Stowell refused to talk to them and they left about 10:30 p.m.

The RV park manager, Sonya Wilson, told deputies she saw Stowell under his trailer with a gun about 8 a.m. Wednesday.

When she approached him, Stowell fired a shot at her, Goldman said. She ran home and called for help.

“You could tell he was not planning on waiting for nobody,” said Larry Miller, a neighbor who was on his way to Spokane Community College when the shooting started.

Stowell took off in his car as deputies arrived, sparking a four-minute chase that reached 55 mph. During the pursuit, Stowell waved a gun at the deputies through his driver’s side window.

Witness Mark Barnes said he was in his car and about to turn onto Havana from Sprague when he saw Stowell’s car race through the intersection, followed by three patrol cars.

When Stowell plowed into another car in front of Key Bank, Barnes said he expected deputies to “jump out and grab the guy.

“I’m thinking it’s just some regular pursuit, but then the one officer creeps up on the passenger side and rips off four shots real fast,” said Barnes, who was on his way to work at ABF Freight System Inc.

“It was like, ‘Whoa.’ You don’t expect to see something like that.”

Several witnesses said Stowell leaned out his window with a gun, pointing it at one of the deputies.

Others said Stowell swung the gun around at a second deputy, who came up on the passenger side and opened fire seconds later.

“He was looking to his right and tried to shoot at the cop coming up on him,” said Miller, the neighbor from the trailer park.

The deputy, a seven-year veteran with the sheriff’s department, was placed on administrative leave until an internal investigation is finished, Goldman said. The deputy’s name was not made public.

“We’re evaluating his use of lethal force very carefully,” Goldman said. “But at this point I believe he acted in a manner he believed was necessary and did what he had to do.”

An autopsy is scheduled for today.

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