Spokane, WASH. — Investigators released an initial report on Tuesday’s shooting outside Evergreen Middle School in Spokane Valley, that includes surveillance video appearing to show Joel Malin running toward the deputy and raising what appears to be a gun.
SIIR team investigators recovered “what was later determined to be a realistic looking replica firearm near the deceased individual.” A picture from the scene is shown above.
The Spokane Independent Investigative Response Team, or SIIR, investigates all officer shootings in the area. The member agencies include the Spokane Police Department, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, and the Washington State Patrol. SPD is the lead investigator for this case.
A sheriff’s deputy, working as a school resource officer at a nearby school, was the first to respond to a 911 call. Someone called to say there was a man acting suspiciously near the school and that he had a ‘Glock 19’ in his pocket.
Sheriff John Nowels says that deputy approached the man identified as 20-year-old Joel Malin, who then “aggressed” toward the deputy. Nowels said the deputy saw what he believed to be a lethal weapon and shot and killed Malin.
Attorney Rondi Thorp, who is representing the Malin family, shared a statement after the video was shared:
It is with profound sadness that the family watches the video, reviews the information and absorbs this tragedy. This is an unbelievably tragic death, and we send our condolences to all involved. We need better attention and resources for kids whostruggle with mental health issues and we need to end bullying in our schools.Over the past six years, after a police shooting occurs, we have asked for the surveillance footage and body cameras to be provided to the family early without requiring the family to file a lawsuit to obtain information and giving the family theopportunity to see the videos without having to first see it on the news unexpectedly.Today, for the first time in our experience, that occurred. Chief Hall, who is leading the investigation of the actions of the County, made available a limited amount of the investigative materials to our team of lawyers and the family to review with detectives without making them wait years to receive the information, having to learn of it from the media, or filing a lawsuit to obtain it.Today, we thank Chief Hall and Sergeant Storment for helping this process be more transparent and not making the family wait years for the evidence; we call on Spokane County and City to make the process after a police shooting more transparent inevery case, even when the evidence is not favorable to them.The body camera footage should be made available within the week after a police shooting as several other police agencies do in Washington. Joel’s death is a horrible tragedy and will affect his family and many members of his community for years. If youare experiencing a mental health crisis please reach out for help.
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