On the evening of April 8, 2026, in Spokane Valley, Washington, 17-year-old Carter Cochran was fatally shot on 16th Avenue and South Union Road. Cochran, a Black Lewis and Clark High School student and football player who hoped to become a firefighter, reportedly was experiencing a mental health crisis and making statements of self-harm while standing in the street. He entered the passenger side of a vehicle occupied by three people, and after the armed driver got him out of the car the encounter escalated into a confrontation that ended when the driver shot Cochran. A friend who was with him was unharmed.

Family members say Cochran was unarmed and have questioned the driver’s actions; his grandmother, Kim Carroll, said he had been grieving his mother, who died of leukemia two years earlier, and suggested race may have played a role. The Spokane County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide due to gunshot wounds. As of mid-April 2026 the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office had not charged or named the driver and described the investigation as ongoing.

Did anyone in the Spokane Valley area see what happened that night or have information about the vehicle or people involved?