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“He’s outside of his car and the car’s on fire…it looks terrifying.”

Seattle Police Department investigators worked late into the night Monday collecting evidence and piecing together the series of events which led two Washington State Patrol Troopers to open fire on a man armed with a knife on the Interstate 5 Ship Canal Bridge, fatally wounding him.

As investigators continue to comb through evidence and review witness statements, the Department is releasing two 911 audio files recorded as the incident unfolded on the bridge just before 7 PM. In the first recording, a man tells 911 operators of the “terrifying” scene on I-5, describing a burning car and an erratic man on the freeway.

The second recording—of 911 operators for Seattle Police, Seattle Fire, and the Washington State Patrol working together to gather details and get officers and medics to the scene—highlights the often uncertain and scarce nature of the information available to first-responders as they rush to critical incidents.

SPD will release more information on the investigation as it becomes available.