A Bremerton man was involved with a “very violent confrontation” involving several police officers, according to the Spokane Police Department. They say the entire attack was witnessed by the man’s three children, all under the age of 14.
KIRO 7 spoke to the mother of the children, who lives in Bremerton. She was stunned to hear about the Dec. 15 incident.
“I just know that he loves our kids,” Kayla Aamodt says. “It makes no sense. He’s definitely not that person.”
Dashcam video shows a car being pulled over on Cook Street in Spokane at about 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Aaron Aamodt, 37, immediately gets out of his vehicle and begins to approach officers.
“I’m going to [expletive] murder you,” he says to an officer in the video.
After repeatedly warning Aamodt, officers deployed their Taser guns, which seemed to have no effect on the suspect. Police say Aamodt attempted to bite, eye gouge and disarm officers.
“The officer felt Aamodt repeatedly attempting to take his gun from the holster,” said Cpl. Ronald Van Tassel with the Spokane Police Department. He says Aamodt hit the officer several times, bringing his face down around the officer's neck and attempted to bite his throat.
“The officer involved in the incident believed he was truly involved in a fight for his life,” Van Tassel said.
The suspect is Kayla Aamodt’s ex-husband. She can’t believe all of that happened in front of her children, who are heard screaming in the video during the attack. The children are 14, 11 and 9 years old.
“They just know that something went wrong, and this isn't like dad. Dad is a good man, he's a loving man,” she said.
Kayla spoke to her daughter an hour before the incident and it seemed everything was fine. She can’t figure out why her husband behaved like this and says it’s extremely out of character.
“I’m more saddened for him, because one small choice has changed his life and his children <children's?> lives forever,” she explained.
The children are now home in Bremerton. Kayla says her children are struggling to cope with what they witnessed, but she’s thankful it wasn’t worse.
“To not use deadly force, I am forever grateful,” she said. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to be on the other side.”
Spokane police say Kayla reported the children missing earlier that day. She told KIRO 7 she canceled the report hours later after speaking to her children and learning everything was fine. Aamodt is the one who has custody of the children, she said.
Aamodt’s facing numerous charges, including assault on an officer, reckless driving, three counts of reckless endangerment and obstructing and disarming a police officer.
Two officers were injured but are expected to be OK.
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