Former Royal City officer involved in domestic shooting

MOSES LAKE - Detectives investigating the Tuesday, Aug. 21 officer-involved shooting near Moses Lake report that the officer was reacting to threats from an armed man who'd reportedly injured a woman and left her bloody.

Grant County Sheriff's Office Corporal Allan Sleeper, 58, was the Deputy who fired his sidearm the morning of Aug. 21 at Corey L. Minatani, 39, a domestic violence suspect.

Shot in the chest, Minatani was hospitalized in Spokane under the security of a Grant County Sheriff's deputy. At last report, Minatani was in stable condition. He will be booked into the Grant County Jail upon release from the hospital.

Sleeper has a long law enforcement career, starting in Kansas in 1989. He worked for the Royal City Police Department from 1993 until 1997 and the Quincy Police Department from 1997 to 1998.

Sleeper was hired as a Grant County Sheriff's deputy in 1998. He was promoted to corporal in 2002.

Minatani and Sleeper came into contact after a domestic disturbance call was made to the sheriff's office at around 3:30 a.m. On the 21st. Sleeper and other deputies were dispatched to a home in the 9300 block of Viewcrest Drive Southeast.

While en route, investigating detectives said, deputies were told the call had been upgraded to physical domestic violence and that children were inside the home.

Sleeper arrived first, detectives said, and was met in front of the house by Minatani's wife, who was injured and covered in blood. She told Sleeper that Minatani was inside the home and had cut her with a knife.

Sleeper was also told Minatani was a martial arts expert, detectives said.

According to investigators, Sleeper entered the home and found Minatani inside a bathroom. He waited outside the bathroom and spoke with Minatani while waiting for additional officers to arrive.

According to investigators, Minatani told Sleeper he was armed with a knife, and he wasn't going to put it down. Minatani then showed Sleeper he was armed with a large sharp-point carving knife and a large sharp-tined serving fork, detectives said.

According to detectives, Minatani refused Sleeper's repeated demands to drop the weapons. Minatani then advanced to within several feet of Sleeper before Sleeper fired one shot from his .40-caliber sidearm, striking Minatani in the chest and knocking him to the floor. Sleeper then reported by radio that he had shot Minatani.

Minatani continued to resist arrest, and fought with responding officers as they tried to render aid, detectives said.

Minatani was restrained and transported by ambulance to Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake. He was later transported to a Spokane hospital for treatment of a single gunshot wound to the chest.

The investigation is continuing as of the 24th.