The April 20 confrontation left four officers injured and a suspected 19-year-old robber dead..
The Seattle Police Department’s Force Review Board has found the fatal shooting by officers of a 19-year-old man during an armed-robbery call in April to be reasonable and proportional.
The board also found the officers’ tactics and decision-making fell within policy and training, according to the board’s written report made public Wednesday.
The early afternoon incident on April 20, which left one officer seriously wounded with a gunshot, began when Damarius Butts, 19, and his sister allegedly stole doughnuts, potato chips, a 12-pack of beer and other beverages from a 7-Eleven store at 627 First Ave.
When the clerk ran after them and grabbed his sister, Butts revealed a gun in his waistband and demanded the clerk let go, according to court documents.
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Bicycle officers caught up to the siblings, who had given the stolen food to a third person, the documents say.
As officers tried to take Butts into custody, his sister threw a soft-drink bottle that struck one officer’s head, then “struck the officer and attempted to place him in a choke hold … enabling her brother to break free,” according to the documents.
About 1:23 p.m., Butts ran past a patrol car toward the loading-dock area of the Federal Building at 909 First Ave., according to a Seattle police Force Investigation Report.
One officer jumped from the patrol car and led a group of officers who chased Butts into the building. The officer found herself in a small room with Butts, who fired a shot that hit her ballistic vest, the report says.
She returned fire, striking Butts, who fell to the ground, according to the report.
When other officers approached, Butts fired additional shots, striking one in the chin and another in his thumb, the report says.
The officer shot in the thumb and two other officers returned fire, striking Butts multiple times, the report says.
A court inquest to determine the causes and circumstances of the fatal shooting is pending.
The officer who was shot in the chin, Hudson Kang, was hospitalized for several days.
He told investigators the bullet that hit him went through his chin toward his throat, then hit two of his vertebrae and chipped the bones. It then clipped his right lung, fractured his shoulder blade and bounced down, fracturing three ribs, he said.
The bullet remains in his right side, near his shoulder, Kang said.