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Man shot during police response at 20th/Dearborn

(With images and reporting by Alex Garland)

(With images and reporting by Alex Garland)

A man reportedly carrying two knives was shot in a police response Sunday afternoon near 20th and Dearborn in the Central District just west of Judkins Park.

Police reported a subject approaching an officer in the area of 20th and Dearborn just after 1:45 PM and then reported shots fired and a man down at the scene.

Police cordoned of the area and have summoned a union representative to East Precinct, a move typically part of the procedure around officer-involved shootings.

Police were called to the scene minutes earlier to a report of a suicidal male armed with a knife.

UPDATE 5:10 PM: SPD has posted a preliminary report on the shooting:

Earlier this afternoon at around 1:44 p.m., East Precinct patrol officers responded to the 1900 block of S Dearborn to a report of a suicidal man chasing his partner with a kitchen chopping knife out in front of their home.

Officers arrived just three minutes later and contacted the victim. The suspect was no longer there.

While officers were speaking to the victim, the suspect returned, armed with two kitchen knives, and confronted the officers.

One officer shot the suspect, wounding him. Officers immediately began life saving efforts and called for Seattle Fire medics.

Seattle Fire Medics responded and transported the suspect to Harborview Medical Center, where he is in critical condition and undergoing surgery.

As per SPD policy, designed in collaboration with the Department of Justice, detectives from the Force Investigation Team and Crime Scene Investigators are on-scene with representatives from the Office of Professional Accountability to collect evidence and review the incident.

Per department policy, the officer involved in the shooting will be placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation.

This is a developing incident and we will update this post with additional information as it becomes available.

This information is preliminary and subject to change as the investigation proceeds.

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A witness tells CHS she heard four quick shots and came outside to see a neighbor down in the street with police in the area. The woman also said she saw a knife lying in the street.

Neighbors told CHS they heard four shots.

Seattle Fire reports an adult male male with life threatening injuries from gunshot wounds was taken to Harborview from the scene.

Neighbors said the man who was shot and his partner had been a quiet part of the street. “They are friendly,” one woman said about the men. “They know everybody. They are really friendly to the whole neighborhood.”

UPDATE 6/20/2016: SPD has released 911 audio (mp3) and dash video of the shooting:

Police also have released photos of the knives the man was reported to have been carrying at the time of the shooting:

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15 Comments
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Del
Del
7 years ago

He was suicidal…and so he was shot. That’s somehow especially tragic.

Jerry landers
Jerry landers
7 years ago
Reply to  Del

Suicidal means homicidal

Jim98122x
Jim98122x
7 years ago
Reply to  Del

Anybody that wasn’t there doesn’t know what happened. If he did come at the cop with a knife, what’s the cop supposed to do?

Jeff N.
Jeff N.
7 years ago
Reply to  Del

“What was the cop suppose to do?” How about shoot the guy in the foot? Why are cops so hell bent on murder as the only possible recourse to any potential or imagined threat?

Jim98122x
Jim98122x
7 years ago
Reply to  Del

How do you know the cop didn’t shoot him in the leg? It’s quite possible to lose a lot of blood being shot in the leg. Furthermore, how would shooting someone in the foot stop them from throwing a knife? Plus, anyone who’s gotten into an altercation with someone on drugs, or who’s deranged, knows they’re capable of anything.

The guy had 2 knives and needed to be stopped. The cop can’t assume he’ll get a 2nd chance.

And again, you don’t know what happened.

AbleDanger
7 years ago
Reply to  Del

Shoot him in the foot? Are you kidding? Can you imagine how hard that would be?

RWK
RWK
7 years ago
Reply to  Del

Why wasn’t pepper spray tried initially to subdue the man? I can understand immediate shooting if the suspect has a gun, but in this case his weapon was a knife.

Del
Del
7 years ago
Reply to  Del

Bob, you have to get pretty close for liquid pepper spray to work. Even the foam you shoot only goes so far and they didnt want to close the distance between cop and knife guy enough to risk getting stabbed. Shooting him in the face with a pepper ball and in the body with bean bags would have taken him down I’d imagine.

RWK
RWK
7 years ago
Reply to  Del

What I really meant to suggest was the use of a taser. I believe those can be effective from some yards away from the suspect.

Andy E.
7 years ago

Wow so tragic. Something I had to learn when I moved here from Europe. The police here are trained to shoot to kill.

AbleDanger
7 years ago
Reply to  Andy E.

Did you anticipate those sorts of run-ins with law enforcement? I mean, the large bulk of public interaction with LE likely doesn’t involve use of force…

EuroCop
EuroCop
7 years ago
Reply to  Andy E.

The police in Europe are also trained to shoot to kill, at least the ones that are armed. They just don’t resort to “shoot” as quickly, and get more de-escalation training.

Del
Del
7 years ago
Reply to  Andy E.

The UK police use bean bag shots, nets they shoot, rubber bullets, all sorts of stuff to disable vs. gun shot. When you shoot with a gun you go for center mass – there is no “shoot his foot” because these aren’t sharpshooters with a still target. It’s a moving target and the cop is full of adrenaline and trained to shoot for center mass. I just wish we’d try some of the things they use in Europe instead.

Andy E.
7 years ago

Great feedback here, all valid points. I was reporting my perception as someone who lived here for only 15 years.
It is also true that law enforcement is much more likely to confront someone who is armed with firearms than they are in most other countries.

Del
Del
7 years ago
Reply to  Andy E.

Agreed. The Huffington Post did a good piece on the subject.

“Why American Cops Kill So Many Compared To European Cops”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/american-cops-lethal_us_565cde59e4b079b2818b8870