Teen who pointed shotgun at Spokane deputy facing attempted murder charge

A teen who was arrested for pointing a sawed-off shotgun at a Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy Monday morning is now being charged with attempted murder, the sheriff’s office said Tuesday.

The 17-year-old and another man, 22-year-old Ilder E. Vasquez, were spotted in the 15800 block of East Valleyway in Spokane Valley at about 10 a.m. Monday by a deputy on a report of two men seen car prowling.

When the deputy exited his patrol car, one of them “moved toward him” while the other pointed a sawed-off shotgun at the deputy, a sheriff’s office news release states. The deputy drew his gun and ran to find cover. The teen appeared to trip, dropped the gun and was arrested. Vasquez ran away and was located and arrested in the area of Fourth Avenue and Cannery Road.

According to a news release, as the suspect was being taken into custody he was belligerent, called deputies “pigs” and, after he was advised of his rights, said he did not speak “Pig Latin,” called the deputies “corrupt.” When the first deputy on scene told another deputy “He tried to shoot me,” the teen reportedly responded “I forgot to take the safety off,” according to the news release.

“Tell me again how property crimes are non-violent,” Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich was quoted saying in the release. “I am so tired of listening to elected officials in our community tell people property crimes are non-violent in order to justify not fixing our criminal justice system and our jail, or holding these offenders accountable.”

He went on to say, “We were lucky today; these ‘non-violent property offenders’ didn’t kill our deputy, not because they didn’t try, but because he couldn’t get his gun to fire. The deputy and his family had an angel sitting on his shoulder today.”

The name of the juvenile suspect, who is a convicted felon, has not been released. The prosecutor’s office plans to try him as an adult, said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Deputy Mark Gregory.

Vasquez is currently being held on warrants for attempted burglary, a Washington Department of Corrections Community Custody Hold and will face additional charges stemming from this incident.