Seattle police open fire on wanted felon
SEATTLE -- No one was injured when police opened fire on a wanted felon on Labor Day.
Police said two bicycle officers working Bumbershoot saw a man climbing out of the broken window of a car in the 100 block of Taylor Avenue North just before 1:45 p.m.
The officers tried to make contact with the man, at which point they say he got inside a white Dodge Durango in a parking lot at Taylor and Denny.
Police say the 36-year-old suspect's driving posed a threat to one of the officers, so both opened fire, hitting the Durango. The man was not hit, and he managed to speed away in the damaged car.
A police chase ensued, and the Durango driver led police to the parking lot of The Hurricane Cafe at Seventh and Blanchard where the man jumped out of the car.
"They immediately surrounded the white vehicle in our parking lot and came in with their guns drawn," said witness Noah Martin.
He took off on foot, but was captured just blocks away at Ninth and Westlake and taken into police custody. He was booked into King County Jail for investigation of felony assault and on an active felony warrant for malicious mischief.
The officers will be placed on administrative leave while the case is investigated. A Firearms Review Board will be convened in the coming months to determine whether the shooting was within Department policy
It was not immediately clear what made police feel threatened by the man. His name has not been released, and the investigation is ongoing.
Police said two bicycle officers working Bumbershoot saw a man climbing out of the broken window of a car in the 100 block of Taylor Avenue North just before 1:45 p.m.
The officers tried to make contact with the man, at which point they say he got inside a white Dodge Durango in a parking lot at Taylor and Denny.
Police say the 36-year-old suspect's driving posed a threat to one of the officers, so both opened fire, hitting the Durango. The man was not hit, and he managed to speed away in the damaged car.
A police chase ensued, and the Durango driver led police to the parking lot of The Hurricane Cafe at Seventh and Blanchard where the man jumped out of the car.
"They immediately surrounded the white vehicle in our parking lot and came in with their guns drawn," said witness Noah Martin.
He took off on foot, but was captured just blocks away at Ninth and Westlake and taken into police custody. He was booked into King County Jail for investigation of felony assault and on an active felony warrant for malicious mischief.
The officers will be placed on administrative leave while the case is investigated. A Firearms Review Board will be convened in the coming months to determine whether the shooting was within Department policy
It was not immediately clear what made police feel threatened by the man. His name has not been released, and the investigation is ongoing.
This article is very vague with not many details. Â I love all the criticism towards the police department when you don't even know the facts and details. Â Who will you be calling when you or your family have an emergency? Â Everyone is quick to criticize without knowing FACTS. Â That's what is turning our communities upside down. Â
Let me understand thisâ¦. Is it now OK to shoot at suspected car prowlers if we fear for our personal safety theyâre driving away threatens me?
Sounds like the officers need a lot more time on the range..... Too many shots fired to not have hit the perp.
 @bustedupredneck I think they might have been trying to disable the vehicle.
Does seem to be missing info , most officer have a bit of contempt for the public they serve , and like wise . So all things being equal it is far more likely we will see an escalation of over reactive behavior on both sides . But the police office have near immunity with regard to culpability . The correct thing to do is be very submissive and cooperative ( yes sir , No mam) we don't want to agitate an already nervous police force , They have guns, taser, and the entire city backing them up , regardless of wrong doing . even the good guys are getting arrested and the city is hemerging red ink from all the law suits ( pay outs) Do you really think the doj will cause the dept to change their M.O. ??? (It's better to make mistake and cause harm / kill citizens then become a statistic yourself. Shot first ask questions latter .) Im sorry to say this seem to be the underlieing rule of conduct for some police officers not all , there are many good cops still out there. I hope
Too bad they missed.
@Quackula What do you think they were aiming for ??
 @realdeal  @Quackula The wanted felon of course.
@Quackula Bad shot , or used as a scare tactic?? Hmm Jump off their horse and rounded up the felon . Quit complaining no bystanders go hit right?? ( this time )
Jittery Police Officers? ok, well, these brave men & women who protect "ALL" of us have every right to be jittery, they are under tremendous stress, and the biggest reason? Â violent crime has risen, police hatred is on the rise, and there is no respect for authority anymore, nine times out of ten the people the Police encounter are criminals out to do harm, if you wear a badge, it's not even safe to sit in a cafe....remember?personally, I have the uptmost respect for these officers, they have the toughest jobs in the world......defending human life...would you like to trade jobs with them for just one day? I'm reasonably sure you would be a bit jittery also...
@Olivia Respect is earned , and 9/10 you are guilty regardless . it's not safe to sit in your car waiting for shift to start. it's not safe to play with your friends on the street , or walk down the street carving a pc wood. and if you feel you were mistreated good luck getting the police video ( over 100,000 missing/deleted videos) and if you ask for video they will try to sue you. Can you connect the dots?? If you have ever even been charged with a crime , you all ready have a strike against you , and most police officer know this and will take full advantage to justified their actions right/wrong I have notice most police officer are far less polite and courteous when pulling you over for an involuntary donation ( ticket ) and will normally take 20-30 min detaining you as other police cars will seem to start appearing as if there is major problem. seems kind strange to me.
 @realdeal You are right about some things, however, most of the time as you say when they pull you over it is because of something amiss with your vehicle or you did something illegal, why did they install video in police cars to begin with? for everyones protection, not just the officers, as for getting the videos, how do you suppose you have seen all these so called injustices on the side of the officers? "you saw the video", yes, respect IS EARNED, and that goes both ways, if you are disrespectful, you reap the outcome, you sir/madam are talking about some isolated truly sad and unfortunate things that happened in this imperfect world we live in, but you must remember, the police are more our friend than our enemy and they are HUMAN too, and none of us are perfect, and until you walk in their shoes, maybe you should not be too quick to judge most of them and realize  just how hazardous their job can be.@OliviaÂ
 Well you certainly have a right to your opinion, that's what makes the world go round, and we could debate the behavior of some (as I'm sure there are) rogue police officers forever, however, is it fair to judge all police officers by what a handful may do? as I said before, no one is perfect, and I totally agree that those bad apples should be re-evaluated and fired if necessary, but it seems everytime a Police Officer does something, lets say maybe too zelously, the entire Police force is blamed, that just isn't fair to judge ALL by a very few who may be in the wrong line of work, and you say one of your family and many of your friends are/were Police Officers, then I'm sure they, as former or current law enforcement individules feel contempt for those few who assert their dominance, as the rest of us do, but do you blame them when one of their peers reacts in a manner unbecoming of a Police Officer?@realdeal  @OliviaÂ
@Olivia @realdeal Yes , police have a dangerous and often thankless job , but respect /TRUST for LEO is being compromised by a few bad apples and the videos we see are just the tip of the iceberg why do you think Komo4 and attorneys , and citizens have been trying to get for years , It's a little hard to trust the Dept when they have the altitude that they reserve the right to withhold videos for 3 years. However if the officer was clearly in the right we seem to get all of those videos . some of the video had to be released due private citizen recording. Here is the problem , The few over reactive younger officer don't seem to handle authority very well . and a "FEW" feel they need to assert that air of dominance well not all people feel they have the right to throw there wight around when they encounter some who is not showing the proper amount of submissiveness and respect . They often instigate rather then ignore or deescalate a situation , Google Contempt of Cop one of my family was a police officer many of friends are police officer , but it seems a few officer are causing lots of problem and should be removed / reevaluated / and retrained / or dismissed This will demonstrate good faith effort to correct some of the problem Sorry , over extend response.
Glad everyone is ok. Stop jumping to conclusions you MMACQB's.
jittery police officers here....
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made contact with a "suspicious" person and opened fire? ok then.
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if these guys are too scared they shouldn't be cops...do we want frightened bike patrols shooting with a scraed trigger finger? really?
@SwampThing= either A) subject matter expert who should be a tactics and procedures trainer for SPD or B)Monday morning quarterback who doesn't know what he's talking about and shut STFU. My money's on B).
huh. i was thinking about a career change, i think i'm going to join the force and work my way up to tactics and procedures trainer! thanks dude!
 @SwampThing Are you blind or can you just not read. There is more to the story. The dude was in the car and was probably driving at the officers. Nice kneejerk reaction though.
we'll see.
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the officer that gunned down J Williams was scared too...
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its easy for the police to say whatever they need to say to explain their actions.
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of course, that straight shooter (get it?) Rich O'Neil from the fabulous police guild will chime in soon enough and explain everything.
 @SwampThing Really tired of comments like yours. Read the article again. I'm sure you would have handled the situation in a more professional way.Â
The anti SPD posters seem to conveniently be unaware that SPD responds to over 400,000 calls a year and all the ones where armed suspects are disarmed without a shot being fired are never reported in the media. So far next to nothing is actually being reported regarding this incident, not enough to base an opinion on. A block away from this incident a 9 year old girl walking on the sidewalk with her mother was run over by a driver in a stolen vehicle, so you presently want to judge two cops on bikes for firing? There is tangible risk in confronting someone behind the wheel of a vehicle. I want to know more facts, myself.Â
 @Citizen#3457899654 Bingo. Although the perp was only wanted of a lesser felony, his behavior was that of the full meal deal criminal. Could very well be that they know him. Maybe there was some initial misidentification involved. Thought he was someone on their visual watchlist, happens all the time with the criminal element in a city anywhere. Things seen at speed, even at relatively closer distance coupled with a big watchlist. A thousand things could be happening that aren't wrong could have initiated a justifiable shoot.
Show of hands, How many of you anti-cop people are also anti gun?
Fired on just because of suspicious activity?lol SPD is just flat out of control. I would encourage Seattlites to start a drive to disarm SPD officers until such time as the problem can be fixed. Either they're not getting enough training, upper management is enforcing this behavior  or there is a massive use of steroids on the SPD. They don't test for steroids and they should be.
 @Blindman Police say the 36 year old suspect's driving posed a threat to one of the officers so they both opened fire. Your handle is a good one.Â
 @Blindman Think before you type. The article is poorly written and wanting of detail.
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If they resorted to firing, something was WAY wrong and it was per training. Details will come out soon enough. Most likely then, folks will lament the driver was not permanently incapacitated.
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Cops do not just walk up on cars and blaze away. They had reasonable doubt and acted.
 @Blindman I think the SPD has been considering using gun duels like they used to do in the old wild west except the only problem with that is the other person will have an equal opportunity so I am sure the "brass" in the department will not give it their blessing.
Its rather difficult to break a trigger happy mentality that runs through SPD..
 @Windowseat You have nothing to base that statement on aside from 1 bad shoot reported in the media out of 400,000 responses last year.Â
Well if he ran, then I may have to give the cop the benefit of a doubt, but I'm gonna wait till we know more.
Even though he was captured, a description would be a nice touch....
hey wait...does the DOJ allow that?????!!!!
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 @Wickedwitch What a joke that you don't know the difference between their and there.
Just another day in Seattle.
so the car is trying to get away and the bicycle cops shoot at the fleeing vehicle as it flees?
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what is this the flipping wild wild west
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you couldn't call in back up or a helicopter and place an all points bulletin for other officers to be on the look out for this car.
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my first question is what was the crime committed to bring them to shooting. Â I hope they have a great reason for endangering all the other citizens lives
 @sunnysandiego Your an idiot. It wasn't just a fleeing vehicle....perhaps the vehicle was barreling towards them. Just shut your mouth until you know all the facts before looking like a complete fool.
 @sunnysandiego Seriously? A helicopter? What movies have you been watching? Have you ever rode or even piloted a helicopter through a city with tall buildings consisting of different floor heights? Would you like the helicopter to hover 20ft above the street, while flying between the buildings, following a white durango? All point bulletin? How about you stop watching those old "Adam-12" shows! Â
@Too funny! @sunnysandiego Yep....as well as the fact that there are not that many of them and they have to cover large areas. It's not like they can just call one and it' is right there........they seem to always be being used .
spd has become a joke of a police department. Â they just had the doj on them and here we go again. Â These officers should be fired upon investigation if it is determined by an outside investigation these officers used excessive force which from the initial reports it's starting to look that way....
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yet another incident in the growing list of overuse of power by this renegade unaccountable to its citizens department.
 @sunnysandiego So if they didn't stop this guy and he ended up killing someone you would be condemning them for not doing enough, Bad people deserve bad things!
 @sunnysandiego I don't put much credit into the gun walking doj, I think each shoot needs to be vetted like you say, but until I get facts, not all SPD shoots are bad just because they are SPD.
 @DarkParty OK fair enough.
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but this is the spd that recently had the doj breathing down its neck. Â hopefully part of the agreement they agreed to includes allowing a non biased entity to investigate any and all officer involved shootings (something I have been saying must happen for a loooooooooong time).
 @sunnysandiego Durango vs bike? they could have been run over. were you there? Me either, Why not wait till all the circumstances come out before attacking the cops?
 @DarkParty If they knew he already committed a crime against someone worthy of using force then I would say nice shot if they hit the idiot but here it is looking like the only reason they fired at him was he was trying to get away.  What if one of those stray bullets hit someone you knew?  than what would YOU be saying right now? Â
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Using lethal force should be only used when absolutely necessary. Â Sorry here it was not.
No injured at the scene, I should clarify.Â
No record of Fire being called in to administer aid so it appears there are no injured parties,Â
I was sitting about 75ft from the shooting in the parking lot off of Denny and 5th. I saw two bicycle cops rode past me and when they reached the parking lot they both popped off their bikes and pulled their guns. They had their guns pulled for about a minute then unloaded their guns on a white SUV that then speed off across the parking lot and into Denny then headed West down Denny with police in quick pursuit.
@JoeHizzy Joe Did you give your statment to the SPD??
 @realdeal  @JoeHizzy I walked over to where about 6 of them were standing a short time after the incident and non of them seemed interested in talking to me so I left.
 @JoeHizzy Glad you are ok...it always gets the blood pumping when hearing and seeing shots fired!!!