Just after midnight on Wednesday morning (May 4, 2016), a 39-year old Burien Man was shot and killed by a King County Sheriff’s Deputy after he pointed a rifle at police at the end of a pursuit. Police say they were in the Seahurst area investigating multiple reports of shots being fired when the incident began. King County Sheriff 911 received multiple calls of gunshots from residents in the area of SW 146th Street and 21st Ave SW in the Seahurst neighborhood (map below). Callers reported hearing several shots being fired and observed a dark truck leaving the area at a high rate of speed. A Deputy coming into the area observed a truck matching the description given by the callers, leaving the area. When the Deputy activated his lights to stop the vehicle, it sped away at a high rate of speed. Deputies initiated a pursuit of the vehicle that lasted several miles. During the pursuit, the truck drove onto southbound SR-509 before eventually coming back into the city of Burien and returning to the area where the initial shots calls came from. The pursuit ended at around 12:30 a.m. when the suspect’s truck turned into a driveway and became stuck. As Deputies were exiting their patrol vehicles to begin giving commands to the suspect, one noticed the driver side door of the truck swing open. The Deputy observed the suspect holding and pointing an AR15 style assault rifle at them. At this point, the Deputy fired multiple rounds at the suspect, striking him at least once. When Deputies determined it was safe to approach the vehicle, they found the suspect was still armed with the rifle. The suspect was removed from the vehicle and away from the rifle so aid could be attempted. Deputies and Burien Fire / Medic crews were unable to revive the suspect and he died at the scene. King County Sheriff Major Crimes Detectives are investigating the incident. At this point it is unclear if the suspect fired at Deputies from inside the truck while he was pointing the rifle at them. Detectives are also investigating if there was a domestic dispute that occurred earlier in the evening between the suspect and a woman living at the residence that the truck pulled into. There was nobody else in the suspect’s vehicle at the time of the shooting, and nobody inside the house that was hurt by gunfire. No Deputies were injured during this incident. The suspect has been identified as a 39-year old white male who lived in Burien; no further information has been released. The Deputy involved has been with the King County Sheriff’s Office for just under two years. He has been placed on paid administrative leave, as is standard practice with this type of event. As we gather more information, we’ll update this post (refresh page to see latest updates)…

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18 replies on “Burien Man shot and killed by police in Seahurst early Wednesday morning”

    1. You have to leave and get out now! Go Kathy, get out while you can……..the rest of us will stay and warn the others, go………don’t wait………go!

  1. I used to live across the street on 21st. Glad I dont anymore. Good work by the police, its a risky place to be a cop and there ain’t enough of em.

  2. Alcohol, drugs, mental health, unemployment? There are still lots of good apples in the barrel.

  3. This is an awful tragedy – this man had a family. My thoughts go out to them in this very difficult time.

  4. My prayers go out to his wife and children. He was one of my best friends since childhood and was an upstanding citizen in his community until this unfortunate night. I Love you brother.

  5. My prayers go out to the wife and kids. This man was one of my best friends since childhood and was an upstanding citizen of the community until this unfortunate night. I Love you Brother.. Go with God

  6. Kcso Deputies. Thank you for the work you do every day and night especially in our areas!!…What a horrible incident to be involved in but I’m so glad that the officers went home safely and I hope all investigative steps go smoothly. I’m not going to push the panic button on bailing out of Burien as mentioned in above post or sarcasm.. If your stuck here your stuck here…

  7. Seahurst is usually a nice quiet neighborhood. Shooting is a very, very rare occurrence here.
    There were 2 shootings last night, however. The first burst of 5 or 6 shots was on 21st very close to 149th, at about 12:15. It sounded like it was in my back yard. Then 10 minutes later, a burst of 12 shots from down by 146th. Lots of Loudspeaker noise down there. A bit later I heard the police shouting on loudspeaker for somebody to put their hands up- I heard him shout “No”, perhaps in response to being asked if he was armed- this was coming from the scene of the first shooting, near 149th, right behind my yard. Definitely the strangest, scariest night in the more than 10 years I’ve lived here.

  8. “Ar-15 style assault rifle” …. as opposed to the “non-assault” rifles. Drop the media “scare” descriptor, it’s useless.
    And yes, my thoughts are with his friends and family that have now only memories to remember.

    1. FYI the phrase “AR15 style assault rifle” was copied directly from the King County Sheriff’s Office press release, sent out by Sgt. Cindi West.
      thanks,
      scott

  9. This is so sad. Times are really tough and hard on people. My prayers go out to the family and friends of this man. This kind of thing could happen in any neighborhood.

  10. This poor guy lived in Burien for 39 years and you are trying to pretend that absolutely no one saw the problems he was having? This is not some hard core criminal that has been a menace in Burien or the community for that matter. He was a hard working citizen that obviously was experiencing some very difficult issues. He obviously mad some very harmful decisions that night. I am so sad for his family and the very difficult time this is for them.

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