King County sheriff's sergeant shoots knife-wielding man in White Center (VIDEO)

SEATTLE --  A King County sheriff's sergeant shot and wounded a 54-year-old man with a knife who was approaching the officer in White Center and refusing orders to drop the weapon Monday, the King County Sheriff's Office said.

The man, who the sheriff's office said is believed to be a transient from the White Center area, was hit twice in the abdomen and listed in serious condition Monday night at Harborview Medical Center.


The shooting occurred at SW 100th and 15th Avenue SW, when officers were called to reports of a knife fight between multiple men.

In a surveillance video, a man with a knife is seen approaching a sergeant who has his gun drawn. The sheriff's office said he refused multiple orders to drop the weapon. As the man got closer, the sergeant fired, hitting him in the torso twice. The man can be seen grabbing his stomach, but still holding onto his knife.

"At about the same time, another deputy whom had just arrived on scene, deployed his Taser at the man as he advanced on the sergeant," the sheriff's office said in a new release. "It is unknown at this time if the Taser actually made contact or had any affect on the man."

But the wounded man quickly fell to the ground at that point.  He then tossed his knife away as he lay writhing in pain.

Bruce Lewis, who was in the parking lot at the time, heard the sergeant tell the man to drop the knife.

“They told him. The officer that shot first, I heard him yell at him. The guy didn’t seem to care.”

Lewis says from what he saw, the sergeant had no choice but to open fire.

“He was advancing towards them and what are they supposed to think? They’re telling him to halt, what would a wise man do?”

The owner of the Chevron gas station next to the area of the shooting says she’s never heard gunshots before.

“I’m glad it was outside, not inside the store,” says Phoebe Lee. “I don’t know how I feel right now, it’s kind of mixed feelings.”

The sergeant has been working with the King County Sheriff's Office for 17 years . He has been placed on administrative leave, while the investigation is under way.