The Seattle Police Department has released body-camera footage showing the moments leading up to an officer shooting and killing a man outside the department’s Southwest Precinct in the Delridge neighborhood.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man who was killed as Urban Andrew Seay, 36, of Seattle, and determined he died of multiple gunshot wounds.
The shooting occurred shortly before 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 2300 block of Southwest Webster Street, in the gated parking lot of the precinct where officers keep their personal vehicles.
Video released by the department included surveillance footage from a Home Depot next to the parking lot, where Seay, easily visible wearing a bright orange jacket, parked his car, got out and climbed the fence into the parking lot.
At around the same time, the department’s 911 dispatch center received a call from someone reporting they had received a message from a “suicidal subject” who stated they had left their vehicle in the Home Depot parking lot.
It is not clear from the video whether the first officer who contacted Seay in the parking lot was aware of the 911 call.
In the video, the officer tries to direct Seay toward a gate in the fence where he could exit the parking lot. Seay walks the other direction, and the officer tries to correct him. Another officer in a vehicle pulls up and the first officer warns him Seay “might be a little bit off.”
The surveillance video shows Seay walking right up to the gate, pausing for a moment, and then turning around with what looks like a knife in his hand.
“Put the knife away,” the initial officer says. By this time, other officers have approached, some with weapons drawn. The officers continue to issue commands for Seay to drop the knife or put it away, while one asks if anyone has a Taser.
An officer armed with a Taser is seen a few moments later. Another officer is armed with a 40-mm projectile launcher, which fires a foam-tipped round intended to stun and incapacitate its target.
Body-camera video from the officer with the launcher shows he fired about a second before gunshots ring out. Police say one officer shot the man with a handgun.
The shooting is being investigated by the department’s Force Investigation Team and will be reviewed by King County prosecutors. The department’s civilian-run Office of Police Accountability will also review the deadly encounter.
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