Two Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies shot in Spanaway; suspect dead
Mar 15, 2022, 12:40 PM | Updated: Mar 16, 2022, 6:47 am
(Credit KIRO 7)
(Credit KIRO 7)
Two Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies were shot near Pacific Avenue South and 176th Street in Spanaway while attempting to serve a warrant against a felony suspect on Tuesday.
The deputies were rushed to the St. Joseph Medical Center. Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer tells KIRO Newsradio’s Dori Monson that one of the deputies is in surgery but “is going to make it,” while the other’s condition is “extremely grave, and they’re continuing to work on him.”
“We had an incident with what we understand was a three-strike violent felon, and we used the members of our SWAT team,” Troyer said.
“He was in a stolen car, and we wanted to make sure that we were able to take him down without any citizens getting hurt,” he explained. “We shut the road down, pulled him over, and got him stopped. He decided that he wasn’t going to cooperate and, in a gun battle, he fired rounds and he struck two of our deputies. Our deputies returned fire and struck him.”
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department reports that the suspect is dead, which Troyer confirmed.
On Tuesday afternoon, Troyer provided an update on the health of the deputies. One of them, 45, is in surgery and expected to remain hospitalized for “at least a week.”
The other, 35, is gravely injured. Troyer indicates that the deputy served in the military, National Guard, and commanded Tuesday’s SWAT team.
“We were told to prepare for the worst, and we know he’s in grave condition. There are some chaplains here, and everybody’s praying for a miracle. We’ll see what happens,” Troyer told KIRO 7 TV.
The names of the two deputies have now been released. Deputy Dominique Calata, 35, has served with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department for 6.5 years. He remains in critical condition. Sergeant Ryan Scaniffe, 45, is a 21-year veteran of the department. Scaniffe is out of surgery and stable condition.
The Pierce County Force Investigation Team is investigating this incident.
This is a developing story — we will provide more information as it becomes available.
