Washington CeaseFire

• Incident Date: May 22, 2009
• Fatalities: 0
• Injuries: 1
• Address: 12500 block of Greenwood Avenue North
• City: Seattle
• State: Washington
• Zip Code: 98133

Seattle Times, published on their website at:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009251687_webhostage22m.html

Originally published Friday, May 22, 2009 at 11:48 PM

By Sara Jean Green

Seattle Times staff reporter

A Seattle police officer shot a suicidal man Friday morning after he threatened to kill himself while holding his 20-month-old son hostage inside his North Seattle apartment.

The man, 29, was taken to Harborview Medical Center with what was described as a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the face. The toddler was not harmed.

Police received a 911 call around 10:15 a.m. Friday from one of the man's relatives who lives out of state, said Seattle police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb. The man had told the relative that he was distraught and suicidal over the recent death of his wife, said Whitcomb, who couldn't provide information about the circumstances surrounding the woman's death.

When police arrived at his apartment in the 12500 block of Greenwood Avenue North, the man threatened to kill himself, Whitcomb said. He told officers he'd placed his son in front of the door and said if officers forced their way into the apartment, the child would be hurt.

"He had the child wrap his fingers around the door knob," Whitcomb said.

The officers backed off. Other officers went to the rear of the apartment to a set of stairs. From their vantage on the stairs, they saw the man come out a rear door onto a patio area, where he told officers he had a gun inside the apartment, Whitcomb said.

"He said he had a gun and told the officers: 'If you guys come in here, it's going to be a bloodbath,' " he said.

When the man turned, one officer thought he was returning inside for a gun. The officer fired his Glock handgun once, striking the man on the side of the cheek, Whitcomb said.

The toddler was found unharmed inside the apartment.

An initial search turned up no firearms, Whitcomb said. But family members had reportedly told police the man had owned guns, he said.

A police spokesman later said officers, authorized by a warrant obtained to search the residence, found an unloaded shotgun and several rounds of ammunition. The gun and ammunition were booked into evidence, the spokesman said.

Two police officers were seen carrying a toddler away from the apartment complex and putting him in a minivan with an unidentified woman.

The officer who shot the man is an 8-½-year veteran of the Police Department, Whitcomb said.

He was placed on administrative leave, which is routine following officer-involved shootings. Police will convene a Firearms Review Board to determine whether the shooting was within department policies, Whitcomb said.

Seattle Times reporter Charles Brown contributed to this report.

• Incident Type: Law enforcement, Self-Inflicted (Suicide)
• Attributes: Western Washington, Domestic Violence