Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spokane police investigating death at home near Rogers High School

Spokane police detectives are investigating the death of a person at a home on the 1600 block of East Rockwell Avenue in north Spokane. Police received a call from a “third party” at about 2:20 a.m. Thursday morning who described suspicious circumstances at a residence. (Jared Brown / The Spokesman-Review)

Spokane police detectives are investigating the death of a person at a home near Rogers High School.

Police received a call at about 2:20 a.m. Thursday from a “third party” who described suspicious circumstances at a residence in northeast Spokane, according to a news release. Officers determined the call stemmed from an incident at a home at 1644 E. Rockwell Ave.

The Spokane police SWAT team searched the residence after obtaining a warrant and located a body, according to police Sgt. Terry Preuninger.

Next-door neighbor Matt Hargrave said he heard loud bangs that woke him up around midnight. There was no more commotion, so he went back to sleep.

When he awoke again at about 4:30 a.m., the street was lined with police cars and he later watched police breach his neighbor’s front door. An officer in tactical gear asked him if he had heard gunshots or sounds indicating violence at the neighbor’s home, adding that police were dealing with a dangerous situation.

Hargrave said he hadn’t seen the cars belonging to his neighbors parked at their home for at least two days. He said his friend, who lives in a converted bus in front of his home, reported seeing a large fire at the residence overnight and a suspicious man asking people for a ride to the Tri-Cities.

A neighbor who lives behind the residence where the body was found said police asked him if he smelled anything unusual overnight. He said he had smelled campfire at one point and closed his window.

Another next-door neighbor, Samantha Kurle, said the home where police located a body was often the scene of screaming between a couple who lived there. She said the house had lots of other people who would come and go from the house. The residents had never introduced themselves to her, she said.

Kurle said police are regularly at a house across the street from where the body was found, and the large groups of people who spend time at each residence sometimes interact.

Police officers escorted students to school in the morning, and police had the 1600 block of East Rockwell Avenue blocked off to traffic as of Thursday afternoon, Preuninger said. Major crimes detectives will be at the scene most of the day.

Preuninger said he did not have information about the deceased person’s potential cause of death, age or gender. He could not confirm if the death was a homicide.

The residence where the body was found is owned by Campbell Rentals LLC. The company said it was aware of the investigation and declined to comment.