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One dead after SWAT standoff in Pullman

By Quinn Welsch quinnw@spokesman.com(509) 459-5469

A SWAT team in Pullman shot and killed a man during an armed standoff that lasted into Thursday morning after he threatened to kill his roommates, according to a news release from the Pullman Police Department.

Police responded to a call for a weapons offense at about 8:40 p.m. Wednesday on the 1000 block of Latah Street, near the Washington State University campus, according to the release. The man, who has not been identified, was in his 30s, police said.

The man barricaded himself in his apartment after Pullman police officers attempted to speak with him, police said. The man later fired a gun from his apartment after crisis negotiators from the Pullman Police Department and the Whitman County Regional SWAT team arrived, police said.

WSU asked students and nearby residents to shelter in place in an alert sent at about 3:05 a.m.

“After unsuccessful negotiations, escalating behavior and continued danger to the public and officers, the male was shot by a member of the Whitman County Regional SWAT Team,” the police said.

After trying to use less-lethal force, officers fired at the man at 3:58 a.m., according to a Washington State Patrol news release.

The situation was cleared at about 4:30 a.m., according to a WSU alert on Facebook.

The man died at the scene, and no officers were injured, WSP said.

The Palouse Area Law Enforcement Critical Incident Response Team is investigating the shooting. WSP is leading the investigation.

The shooting does not appear to have any connection to the killings of four University of Idaho students in Moscow in November, WSP said in a tweet.

Main Street was closed from Spring Street to Bishop Boulevard as authorities investigated Thursday.

WSU police will release the name of the involved officer and the Whitman County Coroner’s Office will release the name of the man who died, WSP said. The case will be forwarded to the Whitman County Prosecutor’s Office for review once the investigation is done.

S-R reporter Garrett Cabeza contributed to this report.