Gonzaga

The Alert That Wasn't: Gonzaga Stays Silent as Fatal Police Chase Ends Block From Campus

Friday, February 16, 2024WAshootingadvisoryhigh confidence

Confirmed Threat

On the afternoon of February 16, 2024, a robbery-related shooting in northeast Spokane led to a police chase that ended near Hamilton Street and Springfield Avenue adjacent to the Gonzaga campus, where officers discovered a woman with a fatal gunshot wound inside the suspect vehicle. Despite the violence ending steps from campus, Gonzaga did not issue a ZagAlert; university Communications Specialist Thea Skokan later stated that no alert is sent when there is no ongoing threat to the Gonzaga community.

Alerts: 1
Response: min
Killed: 1
Injured: 0

Institution

Gonzaga University

Private R2 · WA

~7,500 studentsZagAlert

Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

FOLLOW-UPotherAfter the incident on Friday, February 16, 2024, PST (no ZagAlert was sent during or after the incident)

Verified verbatimStatement attributed to Thea Skokan, Gonzaga University Communications Specialist, articulating Gonzaga's standard notification criteria (as later reported by KHQ in the context of a separate Gonzaga-area shooting)80 chars

No ZagAlert was issued, as there was no ongoing threat to the Gonzaga community.

This case is unusual in that no ZagAlert was sent for a fatal shooting whose police-pursuit conclusion occurred steps from the Gonzaga campus boundary

Gonzaga's notification criterion — articulated by Communications Specialist Thea Skokan in response to a later off-campus shooting — is whether an ongoing threat exists to the campus community; with all four suspects already in custody at the scene of the police stop, that threshold was not met

The two prior versions of this case file included reconstructed ZagAlert messages that did not actually exist; this corrected entry documents the absence of an alert rather than fabricating one

Context

Background

On the afternoon of February 16, 2024, a robbery-related altercation in northeast Spokane led to a shooting and subsequent police chase. A man had called 911 to report his property had been stolen and met with several individuals near Market Street and Euclid Avenue to try to recover it. An altercation broke out, and the individuals fled in a car, with shots fired from the vehicle. Officers located the suspect vehicle and attempted a traffic stop, but the driver refused to pull over. The pursuit ended when police pinned the vehicle near Hamilton Street and Springfield Avenue adjacent to the Gonzaga University campus. As officers removed the occupants, they discovered a woman with a gunshot wound to her head; she was transported to a hospital where she died. Items thrown from the vehicle during the chase included a firearm. Four suspects were arrested at the scene: 18-year-olds Christopher Gimmaka, Kayden Willoughby, and Devin McEwen, along with a 16-year-old juvenile. Despite the police pursuit and discovery of a fatally shot passenger taking place directly adjacent to campus, Gonzaga University did not issue a ZagAlert. In a later statement reflecting Gonzaga's standing notification policy, university Communications Specialist Thea Skokan said that no ZagAlert is sent when there is no ongoing threat to the Gonzaga community — the threshold the February 16 incident did not meet, because all four suspects were already in custody at the scene by the time the situation reached the campus perimeter. The decision is consistent with Clery Act guidance that emergency notifications are reserved for ongoing threats; once a threat has been neutralized, the criterion shifts to the timely-warning standard, which also was not invoked here. The incident had no connection to Gonzaga students or staff.

Analysis

Key Findings

Gonzaga did NOT issue a ZagAlert for a fatal shooting whose police-pursuit conclusion occurred directly adjacent to the campus boundary at Hamilton Street and Springfield Avenue

Communications Specialist Thea Skokan articulated Gonzaga's notification standard — no ZagAlert when there is no ongoing threat to the campus community — as later reported by KHQ in the context of a separate off-campus shooting near Gonzaga

All four suspects were apprehended at the scene of the police stop, eliminating the ongoing-threat trigger for Clery emergency notification before any push notification could realistically have been sent

The fatal victim was a passenger in the suspect vehicle who had been shot during the earlier altercation; the incident had no connection to Gonzaga students or staff

Outcome

The female passenger died from her injuries. Four suspects — three 18-year-olds and a 16-year-old — were arrested at the scene and charged with robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, and assault. Items thrown from the vehicle during the chase included a firearm. No ZagAlert was issued because police had already taken all suspects into custody by the time the situation unfolded near campus, eliminating any ongoing threat under the university's notification criteria.

Provenance

Sources

News
One woman dead after shooting incident on Hamilton Street (KREM)
krem.com
News
4 teens accused of robbery, assault after Spokane shooting, police chase that left one woman dead (Spokesman-Review)
spokesman.com
News
Police presence at large crime scene near Gonzaga University (KXLY)
kxly.com
News
Gonzaga students express concern over lack of shooting notification (KHQ)
khq.com
News
Hamilton Street near Gonzaga reopens following police chase (KXLY)
kxly.com
Official
ZagAlert (Gonzaga University official page)
gonzaga.edu

Alert Sequence

Background

Key Findings

Sources

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