Man shot, killed by Seattle police at bus stop had fake gun
Jan 22, 2014, 4:30 PM | Updated: 5:39 pm
Andrew Law, 36, was armed with a fake gun (bottom) when shot and killed by a Seattle police officer near a bus stop in SoDo Monday night. Interim Police Chief Harry Bailey stressed Wednesday that the gun looked real, comparing it to the gun (top) that was in the hands of a man shot by police in Belltown on Sunday. (Photo: Seattle PD)
(bottom)
Seattle police have released more information about the events that led up to two officer-involved shootings earlier in the week and disclosed that one of the suspects was holding a fake gun when he was shot and killed.
Interim Police Chief Harry Bailey started a press conference on Wednesday by holding up photos of two handguns and later asked reporters to guess which one was real.
“The question is whether you would want to take a chance on this, at night, with your life,” said Bailey.
Around 1:35 a.m. Saturday, Seattle police gang detectives doing surveillance in the Belltown neighborhood were contacted by a female who reported seeing a man with a gun in a nearby parking lot.
According to Seattle police, detectives spotted 27-year-old Mohamed Abdi Jarato, of Renton, holding a gun to another man’s head and threatening to kill him.
“They approached and gave the suspect multiple commands to stop and to drop the weapon,” said Assistant Chief Carmen Best, head of the department’s Criminal Investigations Bureau. “The suspect turned toward the detectives with the gun in his hand, pointing it in the direction of Det. (John) Huber.”
As Jarato attempted to flee the scene, Best said Det. Huber shot him at least once in the buttocks. His injuries were not life threatening.
According to Best, the gun was loaded at the time of the shooting and had been reported stolen out of Kent.
A second, unrelated officer-involved shooting occurred the following day.
Around 9:50 p.m. Monday night, officers working patrol in the SoDo neighborhood responded to the report of a fight in progress at a bus stop near the 2700 block of 1st Avenue South.
According to police, the suspect was pointing what looked like a handgun in the direction of passing vehicles and pedestrians.
“Officer (Jason) Atofau gave commands to the suspect to drop the gun,” said Assistant Chief Best. “The suspect ignored the commands and pointed the handgun in the direction of officers. Officer Atofau fired his patrol rifle, striking the suspect.”
The suspect, 36-year-old Andrew Law, was transported to Harborview Medical Center where he died from his injuries.
While Law was a convicted felon who was flagged in the system as being “armed and dangerous,” officers later discovered that his handgun was a replica.
“I don’t think there is one police officer on this department who goes out at the beginning of his or her shift and says, ‘I’m going to go out and shoot somebody,'” Chief Bailey said. He stressed that both suspects were intoxicated and that it would have been difficult for officers to discern between the fake gun and a real one.
Both Officer Jason Atofau, an 8-year veteran of the department, and Det. Jonathan Huber, a 17-year police veteran, have been placed on paid administrative leave per standard procedure.
The shootings will be investigated using a new use-of-force policy brought about by an agreement with the Department of Justice. The policy, which went into effect on Jan. 1, requires that a representative from the department’s Office of Professional Accountability be called to the scene of every officer-involved shooting.
