Woman who allegedly stabbed her partner with a sword, swung it at police arrested after standoff

A woman accused of stabbing her longtime boyfriend with a sword and then allegedly swinging the weapon at police was arrested on suspicion of assault after a standoff with police Monday in north Spokane.

Spokane police officers responded to a domestic violence call around 6 p.m. at the 5000 block of North Jefferson Street, Spokane police Cpl. Nick Briggs said.

When they arrived, they learned a man suffered nonlife-threatening injures after he had been stabbed with a sword in the torso, Briggs said.

The suspect, who was allegedly intoxicated, according to a police news release, refused to come out of the residence and reportedly had two children, ages 2 and 6, inside with her. Police tried to get her to peacefully surrender until officers on-scene heard the suspect say she was going to kill someone, Briggs said.

That’s when police entered the residence and found the suspect still armed with a sword. The suspect reportedly swung the sword at an officer while yelling that she would kill them, the release said.

The officer avoided being struck by the sword.

Laurie Goretski, 45, was then hit with a stun gun and arrested, Briggs said.

Goretski was booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of first-degree assault for allegedly stabbing her boyfriend and second-degree assault for reportedly swinging the sword at the officer.

The victim was treated at the scene but chose not to go with paramedics to the hospital, Briggs said. The release said the children were uninjured.

It said officers executed a search warrant on the residence and retrieved a katana-style sword, which had a blade 3 to 4 feet in length.