4 seconds from warning to fatal shots, lawyer says

Seattle police Officer Ian Birk fired five gunshots at woodcarver John T. Williams four seconds after issuing the first of three rapid commands to put down a knife he was carrying, according to newly filed court documents related to the Aug. 30 shooting.

Less than a minute later, with a mortally wounded Williams on the ground, Birk was confronted by a witness who asked him why he had opened fire. Birk's response, according to the documents: "He had a knife, but he wouldn't drop it." Williams also was carrying a wooden plank.

Birk made no claim at the time that he had been threatened or assaulted by Williams, according to the documents filed Monday by Tim Ford, a Seattle attorney representing Williams' family.

Minutes after the conversation with the witness, Birk told responding officers, "He had it out; he was carving it up, carving up that board with it open. I approached him ... and instructed him to drop it multiple times, and he wouldn't do it," according to the documents.

Birk's attorney reacted sharply to the disclosure of the new materials, saying they do not tell the whole story.

The sound of gunfire, Birk's commands to Williams and the officer's exchanges with others at the scene were captured on the audio feed of the video system in his patrol car, according to the documents. The actual shooting near the intersection of Boren Avenue and Howell Street was not caught on the video because of the position of Birk's patrol car.

But the video did capture Williams as he walked in front of Birk's patrol car as well as the officer as he followed Williams moments before the shooting. Still shots taken from the video were submitted as part of Ford's filing.

About four hours after the shooting, Birk "made a quite different statement," describing the 10-second encounter as an extended, threatening confrontation that forced him to shoot as a last resort, Ford said in his filing. The statement, also included in Ford's filing, is the first account of the officer's version of the shooting to be made public.

Birk — after consulting with a police-union representative and presumably a legal representative — wrote in a two-page written statement that Williams had been "brandishing the knife, holding it up in front of him in a very confrontational posture," according to the filing.

Birk, 27, who joined the Police Department in July 2008, wrote that Williams looked at him with his "jaw ... set and his expression ... stern," then "continued to look in my direction with a very serious expression" after being told to drop the knife, the documents say.

Williams "continued to become more aggressive," Birk wrote, "as if he were preparing to fight" and continued "to confront me with a deadly weapon."

Witnesses to the shooting told police investigators that Williams did nothing to threaten or attack Birk, according to the filing, which includes transcribed statements from eight witnesses.

The material was filed as part of a court motion asking that Birk's attorney, Ted Buck, of the Seattle law firm Stafford Frey Cooper, be limited to representing Birk and not the city of Seattle in an upcoming inquest hearing because of conflicting interests.

In support of his argument, Ford submitted evidence he said contradicted Birk's statement and cited news reports that the Police Department's Firearms Review Board has reached a preliminary determination that the shooting of Williams was not justified.

Ford's motion also asks that a city attorney be required or requested to appear at the inquest, in which jurors will decide whether Birk acted properly.

Ford said the truth about the shooting will not be brought out unless the city itself appears to represent its interest and to ensure the inquest jury is fully apprised of the investigation's findings.

Buck, in an interview Monday, said the disclosures in Ford's filing violate inquest confidentiality rules and improperly contain what purports to be factual information.

"I believe the motion's factual presentation is not an accurate depiction of the events," Buck said. "It is subjective argument."

Buck said he didn't want to respond specifically to the filing but said that, as a general matter, it reflects a "substantial ignorance" of the threat of a suspect armed with a knife.

Buck contended that Ford had "cherry-picked" certain witness statements. Seattle police have said more than 16 witnesses were interviewed in the investigation.

When all witness statements are presented, Buck said, they will support Birk's portrayal of the incident.

Buck said that after he initially filed a notice that he would represent the city as well as Birk, he withdrew as counsel for the city.

City Attorney Peter Holmes said Monday that he directed Buck to withdraw from representing the city because of a potential conflict of interest arising from the Firearms Review Board finding. Holmes said, at the least, he will send an attorney to monitor the inquest and wait to see if the judge requests a formal appearance by a city attorney.

Ford disputed Buck's assertion that he broke inquest rules by disclosing materials.

A pre-inquest hearing has been set for next Tuesday before King County District Court Judge Arthur Chapman. A date for the inquest could be set at the hearing.

Birk fatally shot Williams, 50, a member of Nuu-Chah-Nulth First Nations in British Columbia and a chronic inebriate, on a sidewalk as the two stood about 10 feet apart along Howell Street while drivers and pedestrians moved through the area.

In his written statement, Birk said he saw Williams from his patrol car walking across a crosswalk.

Williams appeared to be "a Native American male in his forties or fifties," Birk wrote.

Birk wrote that Williams was carrying a knife in his right hand and that he could "clearly see a steel blade" protruding from his closed fist.

Williams, who was carrying a piece of wood in his left arm, appeared to be stabbing or scraping the wood and appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or another substance, Birk wrote. Williams' blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.18 percent, according to an autopsy report obtained by The Seattle Times under a public-disclosure request. A driver with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent is considered drunk.

Birk wrote that he became "immediately concerned that the individual might be the cause of a disturbance," or pose "a potentially lethal threat to other citizens who might be in the area."

"Because he was armed," Birk added, "I drew my pistol from my holster."

After Birk got out of his car and approached Williams, Birk said, Williams had his back toward the officer, "shielding both of his hands from my view."

Birk wrote that he called out to Williams multiple times before Williams finally turned toward him.

"When he turned to face me, he did so slowly and deliberately," Birk wrote. "This lead me to believe he was either seriously detached or knew I was trying to stop him and was attempting to avoid contact with the police."

Williams turned to face him and was still holding the knife, "brandishing" it and "holding it up in front of him in a very confrontational posture," Birk wrote.

Williams' "jaw was set and his expression was stern," Birk wrote, adding that Williams displayed "pre-attack indicators."

"By this time I was struck with an immediate fear for my own life," Birk wrote, noting he had been trained that a subject armed with a knife is capable of moving about 21 feet and inflicting potentially lethal wounds before an officer can respond.

After the third command to drop the knife, Birk wrote, he fired his gun.

"Knowing that he could attack at any moment, that he had failed to comply with my lawful orders, and that he was so close he could attack me before I could react, I made the decision to fire," Birk wrote.

Birk said that, after Williams collapsed, he noticed the knife about three feet away from Williams and kept watching him to make sure he didn't reach for it.

When other officers arrived, Birk wrote, he placed a foot on the knife.

A police photograph taken at the scene, which is included in Ford's filing, shows the knife folded into the closed position.

Officer Grant Leavitt, one of the responding officers, wrote in his report that Birk pointed out the knife and had his foot on it.

"The knife was folded in and the blade was not exposed," Leavitt wrote in his report, which was included in Ford's filing.

Buck, Birk's attorney, has declined to discuss the condition of the knife when found, but said there will be a full explanation in the inquest.

Some witnesses whose accounts were included in Ford's filing told police investigators that Williams didn't appear to pose a threat.

"Never turned around. Never approached the cop. Might have looked over his shoulder," one witness said of Williams.

Another witness said what was "really surprising to me was that the gentleman who was walking on the sidewalk did not turn around really and face the policeman."

Williams was "actually sideways to the police officer," another witness said.

According to an autopsy report, Williams was shot four times, all in the right side of his body, indicating he was not facing Birk.

Another witness told police she never saw Williams make movements toward Birk, turn his head or acknowledge Birk.

"It just looked very unaggressive," the woman said, noting that Williams "looked like he was facing the sun, looking down at his hands."

All of the events happened "very quickly," she said.

"And I just did not believe that the punishment fit the crime," the woman told police in a transcribed statement. "Inside I was screaming, 'no, no, no' as the shots were being fired because the level of danger wasn't, just did not seem to warrant five fatal shots to the chest."

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com