reply to post by thisguyrighthere
When I googled for some stories about this case I found this in Tacoma:
Police were responding to a call that came in just after 3 p.m. saying a man was waving a knife around in front of a bus stop in the 6100 block of
Sixth Avenue in Tacoma.
When officers arrived, Fulghum said, they told the man several times to put down the knife. The man did not, then "raised up the knife in an
overhand threatening manner," and lunged at the officers, Fulghum said.
seattletimes.nwsource.com...
This from the original story in the OP:
Deputy Chief Nick Metz says the 27-year-old officer, Ian Birk, saw a man crossing the street with a knife and a wooden board. Metz says the
officer got out of his car and approached. On an audio recording, the officer can be heard three times ordering the man to drop the knife. The man
apparently turned toward the officer before he fired, but police are still trying to determine whether the man made any threatening move.
The Seattle Times says Williams was a member of the Chief Seattle Club in Pioneer Square. A club employee says he was a carver, like many in the
club.
(William is the victim) .. apparently a wood carver was walking around Pioneer Square (where his club was) and was shot in the process of walking with
his tools.
seattletimes.nwsource.com...
Seattle police Tuesday offered different details of Monday's fatal shooting of a homeless man by a patrol officer, with commanders saying they
now don't know if the man advanced toward the officer with a knife as police originally reported.
Police excuse for shooting him:
"He could see the blade of the knife and the man was doing something to the board," Metz said.
There is a video from the patrol car that doesn't show the shooting (of course) but audio that details the officers ordering the guy to drop his
knife... however..
But people who knew Williams say he couldn't hear out of one ear and wonder if that may have played a role in his failure to comply with the
officer's commands.
I imagine the guy was walking minding his own business, a gungho cop jumps out and starts screaming at him and he at first has no idea whats going on
and by the time he does he's flustered and confused, turns toward the commotion and gets shot in the chest.
My theory is further supported by:
Metz said about a minute passed between the time Birk saw Williams crossing the street and the time the fatal shots were fired.
In one minutes, a mere 60 seconds, a cop pulls over, switches the lights on, gets out and gives three commands and shoots a man dead on the side of
the street.......
For carving wood.
From a distance of 9 feet.
Officer Birk never called for backup. His account was Williams lunged at him with the knife, but every witness says Williams was obliviously sitting
on a wall next to the intersection whittling a wooden board.
One witnesses testimony:
Maurina said she watched the officer approach the man and saw him mouthing something to the man, who did not appear to respond.
"His body stance did not look threatening at all," she said of the man. "I could only see the gentleman's back, and he didn't look aggressive at
all. He didn't even look up at the officer."
The officer approached the man, but was still "at least two car-lengths" away, Maurina said, when she heard the officer say, "Hey, hey, hey,"
followed by gunshots.
"I watched him kind of slowly, sort of gracefully and elegantly, fall to the ground," Maurina said of the man. "From what I saw, it did not
look right."
IMO, seeing what evidence is available, the cop should be arrested for murder.
seattletimes.nwsource.com...
[edit on 9/3/2010 by Rockpuck]