(PHOTO, STORY, AND VIDEO: KHQ.COM)
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A Spokane County Deputy is recovering after being shot while responding to a domestic violence call.
Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich says the deputy was shot in the shoulder following a standoff with a domestic violence suspect near Colbert.
The Sheriff's Office says they were called to the home at around 7:15 p.m. Monday night. The caller said the suspect, identified as later as 47-year-old Dean Bellamy, assaulted her and her daughter the day before. The caller also said there was an ongoing history of domestic violence that included threats to kill the victim and members of her family. The Sheriff's Office confirmed they have been called out to Bellamy's house twice before on domestic violence calls.
The caller also said Bellamy had just crashed his car into another car occupied by her, her daughter and her mother.
With prior information that Bellamy was armed, several deputies responded to the home.
Contact was made with the victims and deputies attempted to call Bellamy out of the house. Deputies say after several minutes, Bellamy came out of the house and began yelling at them before going back inside the home.
The SWAT and Hostage Negotiation Teams were called to the scene while a search warrant was requested.
PA announcements were made for Bellamy to surrender, but he refused. Deputies say at one point, Bellamy was spotted near the back of the house and was ordered to show his hands. Deputies say he did not comply and they fired a non-lethal round at Bellamy, but it was not effective.
Deputies say at that point, Bellamy went back into the house, grabbed a gun and began firing at deputies, hitting a Sergeant in the shoulder. Deputies returned fire at Bellamy.
The Sergeant who was hit was moved to a waiting ambulance and transported to the hospital for treatment. He has not officially been identified, but is expected to recover. Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich says the Deputy is a Sergeant and has been with the Sheriff's Office for about 20 years.
A robot was used to enter the home and it was then that Bellamy was found dead.
The Spokesman Review, citing court records, reports "Dean J. Bellamy, 47, had struggled with depression and alcohol abuse for years before he allegedly started a gunfight with deputies outside his residence at 18718 N. Leslie Lane." The paper also says Bellamy filed for a $1.3 million bankruptcy last year and had “grown despondent about the end of (his) marriage and a business failure.”
The paper also says Bellamy was the co-founder and former executive vice president of RiverBank in Spokane and filed a "civil liberty case" against the Spokane County Sheriff's Office for "falsely accusing" him of domestic violence.
The Spokane Police Department is handling the investigation into the shooting.