Man accused of murdering his father before barricading himself in car on I-90, forcing temporary freeway shutdown

A man suspected of stabbing and killing his father Tuesday in Spokane’s East Central neighborhood barricaded himself in a car on Interstate 90 Wednesday morning, causing troopers to close lanes in both directions west of downtown near Four Lakes.

The suspect, identified by the Spokane Police Department as Damian C. Eiffert, 38, was taken into custody Wednesday.

Eiffert’s father was found stabbed to death Tuesday in the area of South Thor Street and East First Avenue, a news release from the police department said.

Eiffert became the primary suspect in his father’s death, but police were unable to locate him that night.

Wednesday morning, Washington State Patrol came upon a “disabled” car, according to Cpl. Mark Gregory with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. The car had been reported stolen.

The man in the car, later identified as Eiffert, refused to come out, Gregory said. Eiffert had a gun on him, which prompted a SWAT response from the sheriff’s office. East and West bound lanes of the freeway near milepost 271 were closed down for more than an hour while law enforcement attempted to negotiate with him. Both directions of the freeway were reopened by 10 a.m.

Eiffert continued to be uncooperative, police said, and made comments about how “someone in law enforcement was going to die.” He eventually ran from the car but was detained a short distance away, the news release from the department said.

The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the name of the victim at a later date.