Neighbors shaken up after 17-year-old shot and killed in Spokane Valley

A driver shot and killed a 17-year-old “in crisis” Wednesday night after the teen stood in traffic and then got into the driver’s vehicle in a Spokane Valley neighborhood, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said.

The call came in at about 8:10 p.m. from 16th Avenue near South Union Road, Spokane County Sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Mark Gregory said. Upon arriving, deputies discovered a man they identified as the alleged shooter who had remained at the scene.

“Arriving deputies located a juvenile male (17) suffering from gunshot wounds and began life-saving measures until relieved by Spokane Valley firefighters and AMR medical personnel,” Gregory wrote in a news release. “Unfortunately, despite these efforts, the male was pronounced deceased at the scene.”

Deputies detained the shooter and spoke with witnesses.

“The preliminary information at this very early stage of the investigation indicated the juvenile male, reported to be in crisis and making statements of self-harm, stood in front of a car traveling on 16th Avenue, causing the driver to stop,” Gregory wrote.

After the car stopped, the 17-year-old “entered the passenger side of the vehicle.” The driver, who was armed, got the teen out of the vehicle, but “the confrontation escalated, which led to the driver shooting the juvenile male,” Gregory said.

Gregory said the department is currently matching statements with the evidence to see if the shooting was an act of self-defense. As of 2 p.m. on Thursday, the shooter had not been arrested.

None of the three adults who were in the vehicle were injured. A friend, who was with the 17-year-old who was shot, also escaped injury.

Tucked away right next to Pines Cemetery, Derek Crawley lives in the neighborhood and said his wife and young child were at home when the incident unfolded. Crawley was at work at the time, but he said his wife heard yelling, with one man sounding very angry. She couldn’t make out why, though. The atmosphere in the area, which usually only boasts the occasional speeding teenager, turned into something deadly in a matter of minutes.

Crawley’s wife heard three to five shots from what appeared to be a high-caliber pistol and saw the teen running away.

One of the shots hit their house about 2 feet from the door and 5 feet from a front window, so Crawley’s wife and their child went to the basement to hide. There’s a clear chip in the exterior blue paint of Crawley’s house that shows the point of impact. Upon getting shot, Crawley said the 17-year-old tried to run away from his shooter but collapsed in front of Scott Senter’s house.

Senter said his two kids were home at the time and are shaken up after what they saw.

“It’s usually pretty quiet,” Senter said of his neighborhood.

The investigation remains ongoing, but earlier traffic restrictions along 16th Avenue between South Pines Road and South Bowdish Road have been lifted.

Gregory did not identify the alleged shooter or the 17-year-old. He noted that the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the youth’s name, along with the cause and manner of death.

Spokesman-Review reporter Thomas Clouse contributed to this article.