A federal judge has dismissed a wrongful death and civil rights claim filed against Seattle police after a SWAT officer shot and killed a 24-year-old man following a domestic violence incident.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein granted a motion for summary judgment filed by attorneys representing the department and Officer Noah Zech, who fatally shot Shaun Fuhr on April 29, 2020, following a foot chase near Rainier Playfield. Fuhr was holding his infant daughter when Zech, a 15-year department veteran, shot him in the head with a rifle.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in March determined the shooting was justified and lawful.
The infant wasn’t hurt, police said. Fuhr died at Harborview Medical Center.
Zech was among a large number of officers who responded to a frantic 911 call from a woman who said her boyfriend had beaten her, fired a shot and had taken their 1-year-old daughter, according to police. The woman reported her boyfriend, Fuhr, had assaulted her throughout the day, and police said she had significant injuries.
The lawsuit, filed by Jason Fuhr, the man’s father, alleged the child wasn’t in danger and that police, when they caught up with Fuhr nearby, saw he didn’t have a gun and wasn’t threatening officers.
“At the time Shaun was shot, he was unarmed and cradling his infant daughter in his arms,” the lawsuit said. It alleges Fuhr was complying with officers’ commands to stop when Zech fired.
King County prosecutors said in a memorandum issued in March that, given the information the officer had at the time, it was reasonable for him to fear for the safety of the child, himself and other officers and that the use of deadly force was justified.
Prosecutors said dispatchers had relayed information to Zech and other officers at the scene from two 911 callers — including Fuhr’s partner, the mother of the child — who said he had beaten her, broken her arm, threatened to kill her and fired a handgun. The other caller at the nearby Rainier Playfield reported hearing a gunshot and seeing a man tuck a gun in his waistband and run away with an infant under his arm.