SPOKANE — Spokane police say a 74-year-old pastor was reaching for a handgun in the waistband of his pants when he was shot by a sheriff’s deputy last month.
Pastor Wayne Creach was killed as he approached an unmarked police car in the parking lot of his Spokane Valley business after dark.
Police Lt. Dave McGovern said Tuesday that Deputy Brian Hirzel warned Creach several times to drop the handgun he was holding, and that Creach instead put it in the waistband. Hirzel ordered Creach to get on the ground, and struck him in the knee with a baton when Creach didn’t respond.
McGovern said the deputy then saw Creach drawing his gun out of his waistband and fired.
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