Washington lowers flags for two deputies killed in domestic call

Two Spokane County sheriff’s deputies died after a gunman ambushed them as they tried to rescue possible hostages near Spangle, Washington, on Nov. 3.

Deputies Mason Acheson and Parker Perry came under fire from inside a home as they forced their way in around 3:15 p.m., the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said. Acheson died at a hospital. Perry remained on life support so his organs could be donated, then died Nov. 7, Fox News reported.

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson ordered flags at state facilities to half-staff on Monday, Nov. 9, in the deputies’ honor, his office announced. The order fell on a day when the FBI opened a homicide investigation aboard a cruise ship in Galveston, Texas, and Santa Barbara police probed why 19 runners collapsed after a half-marathon — a concentration of law enforcement stories that pushed the term near the top of Google’s trending searches.

The call that killed Acheson and Perry began at 2:25 p.m., when a woman reported she had been shot, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies learned the suspect had an active felony warrant and might have access to more weapons. With other victims possibly still inside, they called in SWAT.

Perry, a K-9 deputy, answered with his dog, Brego. He joined the team approaching the house around 3:15 p.m. and forced his way in, the sheriff’s office said. Acheson, a SWAT sniper, moved with him. When gunfire struck both men, their teammates fired back, pulled them to cover and began treating their wounds, the Washington State Patrol said.

Authorities closed stretches of Interstate 90 and U.S. Highway 195 to fly the deputies to the hospital. Acheson, who enlisted in the Washington Army National Guard in 2011 and served in Poland from 2021 to 2022, died there. He had spent eight years as a Washington State Patrol trooper before joining the sheriff’s office in 2022.

Perry joined the sheriff’s office in 2020 and spent three years on its SWAT team before becoming a K-9 deputy in 2025. He entered the National Guard in 2017 and rose to captain as a military intelligence officer. He and his wife were expecting their third child.

Both men served in the same Guard infantry battalion. “They bravely moved toward danger to protect others they did not know,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “They are true examples of selfless service and dedication.”

A drone sent into the home after SWAT teams from Spokane and Kootenai County took over the scene found the suspect dead, the State Patrol said. The Spokane County medical examiner determined that Ryan Larsen, 37, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, The Spokesman-Review reported. The examiner also identified two other people killed as Suzanne Larsen, 72, and Rebecca Larsen, 45. A family obituary identified them as Larsen’s mother and sister.

“It was a very tragic day in Spokane County,” Sheriff John Nowels told reporters, according to the newspaper. “A lot of families have been affected.”

FBI Director Kash Patel honored each deputy in separate posts on X, listing Nov. 4 as Acheson’s end of watch and Nov. 7 as Perry’s. Patel noted that both men were military veterans and pledged the bureau’s support to their families, Fox News reported. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Wash., said he knew Acheson and his wife from a CrossFit gym and asked people to keep both families in their prayers.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said it is accepting donations to cover funeral expenses, with remaining funds going to the families. The families have requested privacy.

The deputies’ deaths were not the only law enforcement story breaking Nov. 9. In Galveston, the FBI said agents responded to the MSC Seascape after the cruise ship docked Monday, Fox News reported. The ship had departed at 4 p.m. Sunday on a seven-night voyage to Mexico and Honduras but returned a day later after the cruise line reported an incident involving a guest. The bureau has released no details about the person who died.

In Santa Barbara, police said they are investigating “suspicious circumstances” after 19 runners from a half-marathon arrived at hospital emergency rooms with similar symptoms of undetermined cause, CBS Los Angeles reported. Cottage Health said the number of emergency visits was larger than expected, Fox News reported. Race organizers told ABC 7 they believed the illnesses were heat-related. About 7,500 people ran the race, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In California’s Contra Costa County, prosecutors charged Thomas John Iovenitti, 40, with murdering his wife, Alisha, 39, on Oct. 23, Fox News reported. He had been released in May on $1,000 bail after a domestic violence arrest, with orders to stay away from his wife and their home. Alisha Iovenitti left behind 9-year-old twins and a 10-year-old son.

What I think

Two deputies who served in the same National Guard battalion walked into a house together and did not come out. One was a SWAT sniper who had watched over teammates for years. The other was a K-9 handler who responded to the call on his own, without prompting, because that is what he did. Both left wives and children. Perry’s wife was pregnant with their third.

The details that stick are the ordinary ones. Acheson’s wife taught piano to Baumgartner’s children. Perry brought his dog. They forced the door because people were inside. The suspect killed his mother and sister before the deputies arrived, then shot himself after he shot them. The medical examiner sorted the bodies.

Domestic violence calls are the most dangerous work in policing, and they have been getting worse. The deputies knew the suspect had a felony warrant and might be armed. They went in anyway because hostages were possible. That calculation is the one that kills officers, and there is no way to make it safe. You can send a drone, you can call SWAT, you can wait — and the people inside die. Or you go in, and sometimes you die.

The governor lowered the flags. The FBI director posted a tribute. A congressman who knew one of the dead from a gym asked for prayers. These are the rituals, and they matter to the families, but they do not change the math. Two men who spent their careers moving toward gunfire moved toward it one more time and did not come back. The best we can do is say their names and pay for the funerals, and the sheriff’s office is taking donations to do exactly that.