Seattle police released new information on Monday after officers fatally shot a 47-year-old man in North Seattle.
Police said in an arrest report that 47-year-old Marvin Hunter was “clearly armed,” but said at the scene on Sunday that they “believed he was armed.”
Hunter's family and neighbors are skeptical.
Here are six things to know.
1. Police identified Hunter as a violent convicted felon when they were working an undercover drug operation.
The Associated Press reports that when an officer approached his vehicle to take Hunter into custody, he did not obey their commands to show his hands and get on the ground.
Police have NE 85th and 20th Ave NE closed off in North Seattle after a shooting @KIRO7Seattle pic.twitter.com/ld0OtR8lPX
— Rob Munoz (@RobKIRO7) February 22, 2016
Officers and a civilian witness say he reached for his handgun and officers fired on him.
2. A gun was later found in Hunter's car
Hunter was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he died. Police say he was carrying crack cocaine and black tar heroin.
He is, better known as “Che T” or “Che Taylor.”
Family confirms this is Marvin Hunter, aka Che Taylor, the man shot/killed by @SeattlePD. @KIRO7Seattle at noon. pic.twitter.com/tEgUIxM1QJ
— Joanna Small (@JoannaKIRO7) February 22, 2016
Hunter was in prison for 22 years for robbery, rape, illegal possession of a firearm, assault, and drug possession and delivery.
On Sunday, he was carrying approximately 6 ounces of suspected crack cocaine and black tar heroin.
Officers booked one of the other people in the vehicle into the King County Jail for possession of a significant quantity of suspected heroin.
3. Hunter's community called him a kind and generous man, who says he "had too much to lose to draw a gun on a police officer."
"His heart was big as this city here man," said a friend of Taylor. "He would give the shirt off his back if you came to him and told him you were hungry. He was going to feed you, and give you a few dollars, that's the truth!"
4. Neighbors have raised questions about how the incident was handled.
"Me and my granddaughter were doing laundry and we came from around the corner and I heard like six shots,” a neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified, said.
"I didn't hear them say ‘Get out of the car.’ I didn't hear them say any kinds of commands or anything before the shots rang out,” the unidentified neighbor said.
5. SPD releases dash-cam video leading up to the fatal shooting.
The dash-cam video was taken from an officer's vehicle when undercover officers called for uniformed police backup, to make the arrest.
From the time police told Hunter to put his hands up to when they opened fire was in the time of about six seconds.
Hunter’s brother, André, posted a video on Facebook telling officers “I guarantee retribution is coming to your door.”
"It won't be by my hands," André said. "But I promise you by the hand of the almighty God, you, you and your country and your system will fall."
He also says in the video that officers train to shoot to kill, “especially if it’s a black man.” He calls officers “human animals.”
6. The Seattle Police Department says the officers involved in the shooting will be placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation, per department policy.
“Officers have to make split-second decisions,” Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole said in a news briefing on Monday. “They are trained to aim toward center mass and they did from what I understand what they were trained to do, but again, this is an ongoing investigation.”
O'Toole said this investigation, including the dash cam video, is being overseen by the Department of Justice.
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Cox Media Group
