Injured Gunman Gives Up After 5 Hours Sniper Wounds Despondent Man After Suspect Opened Fire On Police
A suicidal Spokane man surrendered to police early Sunday - hours after being wounded in a shootout with a SWAT team sniper.
Ronald C. Cadle, 49, was shot in the neck and upper chest, police said.
Facing felony assault charges, he was listed in serious but stable condition at a local hospital late Sunday.
Suicidal over his pending divorce, Cadle holed up in an apartment at 614 E. Indiana from about 10 p.m. Saturday to 3:30 a.m. Sunday, armed with a rifle and two handguns, police said.
Cadle’s wife had called Crime Check about 9 p.m. Saturday, saying he had called and threatened to kill her.
Cadle called 911 himself about an hour later, telling police he planned to kill himself.
Officers arrived and closed off streets in the Gonzaga University district, bustling with graduation weekend revelers.
Soon after police arrived, they dived for cover when Cadle suddenly emerged, yelling that he was going to kill police.
Cadle slipped back inside the apartment, then reappeared holding a rifle. He braced the weapon against the door frame and opened fire, blasting a tree that a helmeted sniper was hiding behind.
The sniper shot back twice, with both bullets piercing the apartment door Cadle was using for cover.
No other shots were fired during the tense hours that followed.
“He called for police to shoot him,” Police Chief Terry Mangan said late Saturday.
Some neighbors were evacuated, but others stayed inside their homes and apartments.
Gonzaga students spilled out of bars and house parties - curious and confused.
“I guess I’m staying on campus tonight,” sighed one student who couldn’t return home because of the standoff.
Somehow, a pickup truck got through the barricades and the driver pulled up in front of the apartment building with the suicidal gunman still inside. Frantic police hurried the truck out of the way.
The gunman finally surrendered after Elvis, the bomb squad robot, smashed a window in the man’s living room and delivered a telephone. After talking to negotiators for five minutes, Cadle surrendered.
Police spokesman Dick Cottam said the officer who shot Cadle was placed on administrative leave pending a routine review.
, DataTimes