In the evening hours of March 7, 2023, a chaotic scene unfolded in north Spokane that ended in the tragic death of 39-year-old Joshua Vandouris. First responders were called to the 200 block of East Cleveland Avenue shortly before 7:30 p.m. for what initially appeared to be a vehicle rollover crash. They discovered Vandouris inside the wrecked vehicle.
Upon extricating him from the car, it became horrifically clear that this was no ordinary traffic accident.
Vandouris had sustained a gunshot wound to the torso. Despite the efforts of emergency medical personnel, his injuries proved fatal. The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office would later confirm that a gunshot wound was the cause of his death and officially ruled it a homicide.
The investigation into the death of Joshua Vandouris was taken over by the Spokane Police Department's Major Crimes Unit. The incident was characterized as a shooting that led to the vehicle crash. As of late January 2024, no arrests had been made in connection with the homicide, leaving the circumstances surrounding the shooting and the identity of any suspect or suspects a mystery to the public. Authorities have asked that anyone with information regarding the shooting contact them to help bring closure to the case.
