Deputy's Shooting of Tommy Le 'Justified'

A board review investigating the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Tommy Le by King County Sheriff's office deputies last year has unanimously ruled the shooting was justified, the department announced Wednesday.

King County deputies responded to multiple 911 calls of a man threatening neighbors on June 13, 2017. Investigators believe Le was possibly in some sort of mental crisis. 

Witnesses said he was running around a neighborhood in Burien and scaring people with a knife.

Two deputies arrived and tried to Taser Le, but those attempts failed.

The deputies said Le appeared to be charging toward them and other bystanders while holding what appeared to be a knife, so one of them opened fired.

An autopsy report showed Le was shot twice in the back. Le died a short time later. It was only then that investigators realized he was only carrying a pen. (KOMO 4 News, August 22, 2018)
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So, the police respond to a 20-year old kid having a mental crisis, attempt to Taser him, and when that fails the police shoot him in the back because he was carrying a pen - at least that's the way that some will try to spin the story.

Reviewing all the facts, we find that there were multiple 911 calls about a man threatening people with a knife. A civilian (non-police officer) fired a personal weapon and fled inside of his house when Le charged him. Le was then outside of the house pounding on the door. Arriving deputies, first attempted to use a less-lethal means (a Taser) to bring Le under control. The Taser failed. When Le lunged at deputies, holding what was reported (in multiple 911 calls) to be a knife a deputy fired two shots, killing Le.

Police do not just roll up to the scene and open fire. A Seattle Times review of 213 fatal encounters with police in the state from 2005 to 2014 found only one where a cop was charged. Yes, it is sad that a young man having a mental crisis was killed by the police, but we should not spin this to be more than what it was - police using deadly force in a good faith belief that their lives and the lives of others they are trying to protect were in immediate danger from Le.