Man taken to hospital after hourlong standoff

A man characterized as mentally unstable was taken to an area hospital Sunday morning after an hourlong standoff with law enforcement near the Washington State Patrol’s Spokane post.

At about 10 a.m. Sunday, a WSP trooper heard pounding on the back door of the WSP office at 6403 W. Rowand Road near Spokane International Airport, WSP trooper and spokesman Randy Elkins said.

The trooper answered the door to find a man in an “unstable mental state,” Elkins said. According to Elkins, a vehicle pulled up and a person in the auto apparently knew the man, who became agitated and made suicidal comments.

While the trooper was attempting to separate the two, the man abruptly fled and crossed Interstate 90 toward the Upper Columbia Conference Seventh-day Adventist headquarters. There, he broke one of the building’s windows and armed himself with a large shard of glass, Elkins said.

“He was still showing signs of a very unstable mental state,” Elkins said. “Our biggest concern was just his safety.”

Elkins said officials from the WSP, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, Spokane Police Department and Airway Heights Police Department were able calm the man and take him into custody.

The man was taken to an area hospital for treatment of cuts on his hands and exposure, and to undergo a mental health evaluation.