Fake gun used in officer-involved shooting

SEATTLE, Wash. — After two officer involved shootings in two days, Seattle police revealed that the gun used by the suspects in the Sodo shooting was fake.

Police converged at a bus stop in the Sodo neighborhood just before 10p.m. on Monday night, after reports of a man waving a gun.

“The suspect ignored the commands, and pointed the hand gun in the direction of the officers,” said Assistant Police Chief Carmen Best.

Andrew Joseph Law, 36.  was shot by an officer, and later died of his wounds.  Investigators say the gun he was holding turned out to be fake.  But to officers in the dark, it looked very real.

Police say the fake gun looked strikingly similar to the real gun used in an officer involved shooting in Belltown early Sunday morning.

Interim Police Chief Harry Bailey compared held up photographs of the two at a news conference. “If you could imagine this at night, which one would you think is the real one?”

The two officers involved in the shooting are on paid administrative leave during the investigation. That is routine procedure for Seattle police and not an indication that the officers have done anything wrong.

KIRO