Police officers ask White Center residents for help

Sergeant Jason Houck, spokesman for the King County Sheriff’s office, said that the department hopes to interview as many witnesses as possible for information about a knife fight that ended with an officer shooting a man around 5 p.m. on Monday, May 9.

“We definitely want to take our time and make sure we get all the facts,” Houck said. “We want to speak to as many people who were on the scene as we can.”

He said that officers responded to several calls about two men fighting in front of a bus stop in the 9900 block of 15th Ave SW in White Center on Monday afternoon.

Multiple King County sheriff deputies responded. Upon their arrival, individuals began running away from the scene.

“From the time we dispatched to the time sergeants got there, it was about a minute,” Houck said. “It happened very quickly – and people scattered.”

One of the sergeants got out of his vehicle to talk to one of the men, who then began walking towards the officer, holding a knife at waist level.

The sergeant ordered the man to drop the knife a couple of times, but the man continued walking directly toward the sergeant.

The officer fired two rounds at the man, which hit him in the stomach. Another deputy deployed his Taser at the man.

Once the man was cleared of any weapons, King County deputies and North Highline medics performed first aid and transported him to Harborview.

“He’s still in the hospital being treated,” Houck said.

The man is 54-years old, white and believed to be a transient from the White Center area.

The sergeant that shot the man is a 17-year veteran with the King County Sheriff’s Office. He also served as a deputy in Arizona.

Houck said that the Sergeant is on paid administrative leave, which is a common practice for officers involved in shootings.

“This is a standard practice,” he said. “Shooting someone is not something any of us wants to do. It can be a traumatic experience. This gives the officer downtime to decompress.”

Detectives are still investigating the scene. “We’re just trying to gather as much evidence as we can,” Houck said. “And we want to talk to all the witnesses we can. We want to get their side of the story.”

He said that witnesses may appear in person at the store front in White Center or call 206-296-3311.