On December 7th at approximately 10:00 p.m. officers responded to a 911 complaint of a man at a bus stop at 3rd Avenue and Yesler Way carrying a gun. The suspect was further described as a Hispanic male wearing a light blue hoody. Officers arrived in the area and noticed a suspect matching the description provided on the west side of the street in the 500 block of 3rd Avenue near the bus stop. Officers attempted to contact the suspect but he walked away from them. Officers gave voice commands to stop however, the suspect continued to disregard the officers’ commands.
One officer deployed his taser and then saw the suspect reach into his front waistband area and grab what appeared to be a metallic object. The officer immediately dropped his taser, drew his gun and fired. The suspect was struck once in the torso area. Officers provided first aid, secured the suspect and called for medics. A handgun was recovered from the suspect’s waistband.
SFD medics responded to the scene and transported the suspect to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. Homicide and CSI detectives responded to the scene and continue to actively investigate.
The involved officer will be placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure in officer-involved shootings. A Firearms Review Board will be convened in the future to determine whether the shooting was within Department policy.
No officers were injured during the incident.