Shots fired lead to tense evening for police, suspect

 

Last updated 11/27/2022 at 9:28pm

Law enforcement officers focus on a mobile home in Electric City where a man allegedly shot at a bail bondsman who had come to get him for skipping a court date Monday. - Scott Hunter photos

Law enforcement officers from several agencies descended on a mobile home in Electric City Monday afternoon, after a bail bondsman reported he'd been shot at from inside the home and returned fire.

He was there with a warrant to collect Christopher Morgan, 38, who had failed to appear for a court date in Spokane, according to Grand Coulee Police.

The mobile home sits at the corner of Fifth Street and Sunny Drive toward the northwest corner of Electric City's residential neighborhood close to Banks Lake on the hill above the state's Department of Transportation shops.

The bondsman, Charles Dasenbrock, told a Grand Coulee officer that Morgan had shot at him and that he'd returned fire. No one was hit by the gunfire, which Grand Coulee Police Chief John Tufts thought consisted of two shots from each party.

Grand Coulee Officer Shaffer armed himself with a rifle and approached the residence. He could see through a small window on the east side but not far in. He heard a male's voice yelling.

Sgt. Holland arrived at the scene and called the dispatch center in Moses Lake to send more units from other agencies. Holland tried communicating via his patrol car intercom for the subject inside to come out.

"Stay away!" was the answer that came back after repeated attempts, Shaffer reported.

Backup arrived from Soap Lake and the Grant County Sheriff's Office and helped form a perimeter around the mobile home.

By evening, officers from Moses Lake, Othello, the Grant and Adams counties' Tactical Response Team were on scene, along with at least a dozen police cars and officers. Grand Coulee ambulances stood by just down Sunny Drive.

A Tactical Response Team waits at the ready while a negotiator talks with an armed suspect inside.

"It's nice to know when you scream for help, people come," commented Chief Tufts.

That tactical team is trained for just such situations, and their associated negotiators can negotiate from a position of strength. The TRT's large, armored vehicle was parked in front of the residence just before 6 p.m. as officers appeared to be gearing up to enter by force, if necessary.

It wasn't.

The standoff that had started with gunfire about 3:30 p.m. was over by 7:45 that evening, the suspect having been talked down and arrested by the tactical team.

Hunger may have helped. Morgan "was promised a burrito and Sprite upon his surrender," Shaffer's report notes.

Grand Coulee police found shell casings and a firearm inside the trailer.

Morgan was booked into Grant County Jail, where he remained as of Tuesday evening.

 

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