Police kill armed man in shooting on Capitol Hill

Seattle police fatally shot a man near a busy intersection on Capitol Hill on Tuesday night after, they said, he pointed a gun at them.

Someone called 911 at 8:17 p.m. upon seeing the armed man in front of a photocopy shop and used-book store on East John Street near Broadway.

Police approached the man about 1-½ minutes later and told him to "freeze" and "drop the weapon." He then drew the weapon and pointed it at officers, and police think both the man and the officers opened fire, Assistant Chief Clark Kimerer said.

The two officers who fired shots weren't hurt, but the man was struck at least once — one bullet in "the center of the man's body," Kimerer said.

Kimerer said that before drawing the weapon on officers, the man may have pointed it at two people he fought with on Broadway minutes earlier.

Two roommates in an apartment across the street said they watched part of the shooting from their fourth-floor apartment.

"First we heard a couple of gunshots and ran to the window," Phillip Cruz, 21, said. "I saw the victim shoot two more shots. He just fell, and we pretty much saw him take his last breath."

The two officers were placed on administrative leave, as is customary after such shootings.

The officers are veterans of the department, said police spokesman Rich Pruitt. He offered no other details on them or the man.

Tanya Moore, 26, said that minutes before the shooting she hugged the man, whom she met through friends about eight months ago, and walked away.

She said he's in his late teens and has a girlfriend, who is expecting a baby. She said he didn't always carry a firearm but had it with him tonight because he hoped to sell it for money to help his girlfriend.

Moore confirmed the man waved the gun around earlier in the night but didn't do so in a threatening manner.

She said he hoped to attend Seattle Central Community College on Capitol Hill and had just gotten out of rehab for cocaine and speed addiction.

"He's a nice person, a nice kid," she said.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com