Man killed by officer after stabbing victim at business in Renton

Video shows a knife-wielding man lunging for a customer in a Renton bar. That man was shot and killed by a Renton police officer.

And now investigators are piecing together exactly what happened.

This happened just after 10 p.m. Saturday at a bar in the heart of downtown Renton.  One man was stabbed just before the alleged attacker was killed.

Cell phone video shows that man running toward someone right before he was shot.

According to those who were there, the man was waving his knife around and threatening to stab someone, so they called the police.

"This guy has a knife," someone says on a video, showing the scene inside Cheers Sports Bar & Grill at around 10 p.m. Saturday.

Renton Police were called and those inside said the man appeared to wait for them, then the man lunged for a patron.

Seconds later, an officer opened fire.  Eyewitnesses said they heard seven shots.

"We were playing pool," said Kathy DelVecchio. She was picking up her car this eveing after it was trapped overnight behind police tape. She said she was in the bar across from Cheers when the incident happened.

"And pretty soon somebody said 'Somebody's shot across the street,'" she said. "'A guy had a knife and the cop had to shoot him.'"

Soon afterward, she learned the man was dead.

"And then, before you know it, the whole street was covered in cop cars," said DelVecchio. "It was scary."

In the light of this, the day after, you can clearly see the bullet holes in the Cheers window. There's a sign on the door alerting patrons that the bar won't reopen until Monday.

"I was just coming out to my car, and then I just see the police," said Danstan Kaunda, who lives across from the bar, "Just like, the tape, police out, the firetrucks."

Cheers is not a place he frequents, but the news of the shooting gave him pause.

"I don't have the full story so I'm not sure," Kaunda said. "It's just sad to hear that somebody got killed. Maybe there could have been other ways of handling it. But who knows? I wasn't there."

Those who were there said they felt the police did what they had to so everyone else in the bar remained safe.

The officer who shot the man has been placed on paid administrative leave as is standard procedure.

An independent unit is investigating the shooting. Renton police are investigating the stabbing.

The stabbing victim, police say, he was taken to a local hospital and is recovering from his wounds.

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