Police: Deputy shot, killed man at Sodo light-rail station after he pulled gun



SEATTLE -- A King County sheriff's deputy shot and killed a man at the Light Rail station at 500 S. Lander St. in Seattle's Sodo district Monday afternoon after he pulled a gun, the Seattle Police Department said.

No one else was injured.



The Seattle Police Department said the incident began when three unarmed Metro Transit Fare Enforcement Officers contacted three male passengers to ensure they had paid fares on a southbound Light Rail train at Stadium Station.

One of the men could not provide proof of payment for his fare and all three were asked to exit the train at the Sodo light rail station near 4th Avenue S. and S. Lander, SPD said.

Fare Enforcement Officers requested assistance from a King County Sheriff’s deputy — KCSO provides contract security on buses, light rail lines and other transit in the Seattle Metro area — who arrived and contacted the three men.

One of the three men drew a handgun, and the deputy opened fire, killing him, SPD said.

That's not how witness Marquez Davis saw it, however. He said that after the man was pulled off the train and the sheriff's deputy arrived, a scuffle ensued.



"The sheriff reached around the security guard, who had the man up against the glass of the (transit) shelter ... and pulled out his gun and shot the man point-blank range three times in the abdomen."

"Don't get me wrong, the man was resisting," Davis said, but added that there were three fare enforcement officers and the sheriff's deputy against the one man.

The deputy who fired his weapon has been with the sheriff's office since 2002, and with Metro Transit since 2009.

Following the shooting, the sheriff's office asked SPD to lead the investigation into the officer-involved shooting.

The shooting drew a large response from law enforcement in the Seattle area and, just before 4:30 p.m., two SPD patrol officers and two other motorists sustained non-life-threatening injuries near 12th Ave and E. Spruce Street after the officers collided with several vehicles while responding to the shooting.