The man killed by Spokane County Sheriff's Office deputies Wednesday night near Loon Lake may have — hours before the shooting — fired a bullet past the head of a man who sexually assaulted the girlfriend of the decedent's son.
Court documents identified the man shot by deputies as 52-year-old Jeffery J. Smith.
Around 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, the sheriff's office responded to the 42800 block of North Spotted Road near Clayton after Davin Brock reported Smith held him at gunpoint and fired a shot next to his head, according to documents.
Brock told a deputy at the scene that he arrived home and found Smith, whom he did not immediately recognize, on his front porch. Brock said Smith, who was drinking, was friendly and the two talked for a while.
Brock told the deputy Smith's demeanor changed when it came up that Brock was on probation. Brock said he realized that it was Smith's son's girlfriend against whom Brock committed a sex crime for which he went to prison.
Brock, 40, was convicted of indecent liberties in February 2019 and sentenced to 41 months in prison and 36 months of probation, according to the Washington Courts and sheriff's office sex offender websites.
Brock was released from prison in November 2020, according to the offender website. It said Brock's victims were 15- and 16-year-old girls.
Smith took out a black handgun and pointed it at Brock's face, telling Brock that "I am here to kill you," court records said. Brock told the deputy he closed his eyes and believed he was about to die.
Smith, who Brock said was wearing a bulletproof vest under a gray button-up shirt, then fired the weapon past Brock's head and into the ground. Brock said Smith continued to point the gun at him and, from about a foot away, told Brock again that he was going to kill him.
Brock told the deputy that Smith walked back to his car, which he described as a newer silver sedan with no license plates. He said Smith put the gun in his car and grabbed a silver handgun.
Smith again pointed the gun at Brock and threatened to kill him, Brock said in documents. He said Smith told Brock he would kill him if he saw him again before Smith got into his car and sped out of the driveway.
The deputy located a spent .40-caliber shell casing and recovered a bullet from the ground, according to court records. The deputy developed probable cause to arrest Smith on suspicion of first-degree assault.
At about 3:50 p.m., the Stevens County Sheriff's Office received a call from a female at the 4000 block of U.S. Highway 395 near Loon Lake that a man entered her house and said he shot someone in the face at another location, documents said. The man was talking to another resident of the home while she was hiding and calling from a bedroom, the caller reported.
A Stevens County Sheriff's Office deputy responded and saw two men in the driveway talking, according to documents. One of the men, who was carrying a handgun, walked away and refused to stop.
The man, later confirmed as Smith, walked into a wooded area. The deputy requested assistance from the Washington State Patrol and Spokane County Sheriff's Office.
One of the residents of the home told the Stevens County deputy Smith is a family friend who does not live at the residence.
The Spokane County Sheriff's Office SWAT team and units operating a drone to help locate Smith were deployed to the scene, documents said. As authorities set a perimeter, officers heard Smith fire multiple shots. It was unknown at who or at what Smith was firing.
Documents said the units operating the drone located Smith in the woodland not far from the house. The drone captured and recorded Smith's movements and firing of a weapon.
Officers made several announcements to Smith that he was under arrest and asked him to surrender, court records said. A Spokane County Sheriff's Office news release said Smith threatened to shoot authorities at one point.
According to documents, Smith moved farther from the house and came into contact with SWAT team members. Documents said the team confronted Smith, at which point two SWAT team members shot him. The fatal shooting was around 10:15 p.m., the Spokane County Sheriff's Office said.
Smith died at the scene and the details of the confrontation are not known, according to documents.
The names of the two deputies who fired at Smith have not been released.
The Spokane Independent Investigative Response Team is investigating the fatal shooting and the Spokane Police Department is the managing agency.
