Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Police: WSU student shot at by police called in knife threat himself

Police responded to Global Scholars Hall, 1302 Cougar Way, Wednesday morning.  (Cole Quinn/Edward R. Murrow College of Communication)

The 20-year-old student who was shot at by Washington State University police on Wednesday called 911 reporting a subject with a knife, then described himself, police said Thursday.

John Bazan was booked into the Whitman County Jail on suspicion of assault, resisting arrest, intimidation of a public servant and obstruction.

Police said they responded to the fourth floor of Global Scholars Hall at 11:22 a.m. after Bazan called to say a student had a knife.

When the two officers arrived, they confronted Bazan, who had his hands in his sweatshirt pockets and moved toward them, police said.

Officers told him to stop and take his hands out of his pockets, but he didn’t comply, police said. An officer deployed a Taser, but it didn’t work.

As he continued to move down the hall toward officers, Bazan “quickly removed his hands from his sweatshirt in an aggressive manner,” according to a WSU police statement.

At that point, one officer shot at Bazan but missed, sending a bullet into the hallway wall.

Officers then shocked Bazan with a Taser and took him into custody. He was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital to be evaluated before being booked into jail.