King County Exec orders inquest into deadly Seattle police shooting
Apr 15, 2013, 3:56 PM | Updated: 4:51 pm
King County Executive Dow Constantine has ordered an inquest into the fatal Seattle police shooting of 21-year-old Jack Sun Keewatinawin, a mentally ill man who held his father hostage with a knife. (King County Corrections image)
(King County Corrections image)
King County Executive Dow Constantine has ordered an inquest into a fatal Seattle police shooting of a mentally ill man who held his father hostage with a knife.
Police shot and killed 21-year-old Jack Sun Keewatinawin on Feb. 26, 2013, after responding to hostage calls at the family home in Northwest Seattle near Carkeek Park.
Police opened fire after Keewatinawin refused to surrender, brandishing a piece of rebar and approaching an officer who had slipped on wet ground. Three officers shot the man, hitting him several times.
King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg recommended the inquest after reviewing the findings of a Seattle Police Department investigation.
The officers have not been accused of any wrong doing.
“Under a standing Executive Order, they [inquests] are routinely called to determine the causes and circumstances of any death involving a member of any law enforcement agency within King County while in the performance of his or her duties,” said a statement from Constantine’s announcement.
The fact-finding hearing will be conducted before a six-member jury “so the public may have all the facts established in a court of law.”
Keewatinawin had previously been convicted of attacking a woman near the scene and was a registered sex offender at the time of the fatal shooting.
