SPD releases dramatic movie, details in fatal shooting of carjacker
In a statement late Monday, officers suggested a timeline of events from the Sunday incident, along with police dash-cam movie.
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Update: 9:Ten a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8: The carjacking suspect has been identified by the King County Medical Examiner as Raymond Azevedo, a 35-year-old Pierce County resident who had served time in prison.
Original post, Ten:46 p.m. Monday: Seattle police released fresh details late Monday on the man they killed after leading officers on a wild pursue through the city on Sunday, firing gunshots at his pursuers and carjacking several vehicles.
The man stole three vehicles during the pursue that began downtown before winding through the Montlake, Ravenna and Wedgwood neighborhoods. The pursue came to an end after at least eleven officers opened fire on the man and killed him near Northeast 68th Street and 35th Avenue Northeast, in Wedgwood. A total of twelve officers are on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.
Police say they found two guns in the man’s possession, at least one of which was a semiautomatic handgun next to his assets. Medical investigators have yet to release his name.
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On Monday night, police released detailed information on the pursue, which included several crime scenes and dozens of witnesses. They also released patrol-car movie of the incident.
The crime spree began shortly after 12:30 p.m. when employees of a coffee shop near Pike Place Market reported a man inwards with a gun, police said.
The 35-year-old suspect from Lakewood, Pierce County, had last served prison time inbetween October two thousand thirteen and October 2014. He was on community custody, Washington’s version of probation, until Nov. 7, according to the Department of Corrections.
The man had previous convictions for second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, first-degree malicious mischief, attempting to elude police and third-degree attack of law enforcement, a corrections spokesman said in an email.
Because of his criminal convictions, the man was barred from legally possessing a handgun.
When officers arrived at the coffee shop, the man wasn’t there. He fled through several nearby businesses brandishing a handgun before ending up at a tattoo shop, where he ran into an alley, and carjacked the driver of a crimson Volkswagen at gunpoint, police said. He drove to the Montlake area, where he stole a crimson minivan at gunpoint.
He then drove to the University of Washington Athletic Center, where he compelled a man in the lobby to arm over keys to his crimson minivan, police said. The suspect took the van to a gas station, where he attempted to carjack another vehicle, a woman’s Mercedes, at gunpoint, police said. She ran and he took off in the minivan, police said.
He next stole a Chevy Camaro from two employees of a car rental lot at gunpoint, police said. Officers pursued him across Northeast Seattle, ramming into him several times, police said.
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One officer, after tucking his patrol car’s front end into the stolen vehicle and pushing it into the intersection, ran after the suspect while he was driving, the release says. The suspect then fired at officers who chased him, police said.
Officers collided head-on into the Camaro at Northeast 68th Street and 35th Avenue Northeast in the Wedgwood neighborhood. An SUV was struck, according to the release. The woman who was driving that vehicle fled as police “took up positions behind their patrol cars,” the release says.
Police believe the man then pointed his gun at officers, maneuvered the Camaro toward them, and they opened fire. SWAT officers then approached the suspect and fired, the release says. The man died at the scene.
Two police officers were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after they were injured in the crashes, police said, and several citizens were also treated for injuries. The release said none of the injuries was significant.
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The department’s homicide unit and the department’s Force Investigation Team, which responds to serious incidents of use of force and all Seattle police shootings, are investigating.
Seattle police have been involved in four other on-duty shootings this year.
On Sept. 29, police shot and wounded two people in unrelated incidents, one downtown and the other in the Northgate neighborhood. In one incident, a man was shot after brandishing a handgun to a downtown building security guard. Police said they followed the man and when he didn’t go after their directions one officer fired several times, striking the man in the palm.
On that same day, officers shot a man after he threatened them with a knife in the Northgate area. The man was shot with a numb gun very first, but when it had no effect, he was shot, according to a department spokesman. The man also survived.
On Aug. 25, Seattle police shot and wounded a man at a homeless encampment after he allegedly fatally hit a homeless woman and wounded her spouse.
On July 17, Samuel Smith was fatally shot in Ravenna after he charged an officer with a knife. Police had been looking for Smith, 27, because he was believed to have been involved in a hit-and-run accident in which a police car was struck on Interstate Five, police said.
The Force Investigation Team is part of the Seattle Police Department’s use-of-force policy negotiated inbetween the department and the Department of Justice (DOJ), which concluded in two thousand eleven that Seattle police resort to force too quickly and routinely use too much when they do.
Note: This story was corrected on Dec. 8, 2015. An earlier version indicated that the pursue at one point reached Northgate; it did not.
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