(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
A man is in the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds after barricading himself in a hotel room at the Motel 6 in Spokane Valley despite an intense fire burning that evacuated everyone inside.
Authorities tell us the man was armed and refused to come out, during the fire which broke out at the Motel 6 on Argonne and Hutchinson Rd just after 3:30am Wednesday morning.
Details are still limited, but we are told that the man who was shot was armed with a knife and refused to obey deputies' commands.
KHQ reporter Morgan Marum heard several gunshots and saw a man get wheeled into an ambulance on a stretcher while firefighters continued to fight the fire. We know no one else was injured during the fire.
Customers staying at the hotel tell us they were awoken to a "very loud alarm clock" and told to get out as quickly as possible.
Another man we spoke to heard the gunshots as well and overheard the altercation between police and the man who had barricaded himself inside.
Firefighters say they believe a bed or an electrical outlet in one of the rooms caught fire and then spread. When they arrived on scene, black smoke and flames were already visible.
This fire is now being investigated as a crime scene.