Man killed in officer-involved shooting: ‘I've got a pistol, too'

SEATTLE — Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole said the armed man who was shot and killed by an SPD officer Tuesday night had several warrants for his arrest.

The King County Medical Examiner identified him as 36-year-old Austin Derby.

Late Wednesday, less than 24-hours after the shooting, Seattle Police did something unusual for the department.  On the SPD website, infrared Washington State Patrol helicopter video of the entire incident was released along with a 911 call and audio records of conversations between officers.

The video shows Derby hiding behind a shed.  There’s also audio of officers asking him to surrender.  Then there is this exchange:

DERBY: I got a pistol too.

POLICE: What?

DERBY: Got a pistol.

POLICE: Who are you? Come out right now with your hands up.

DERBY: No.

The audio of when the officer opened fire is not released.  However, new Police Chief Kathleen O'Toole said it will be department policy to release all information as soon as possible because “the public deserves it.”

The shooting happened at a storage shed next to a home at the corner of 23rd Avenue South and South Eddy Street on Beacon Hill.

Police say he had a number of felony and misdemeanor warrants.

Police are not naming the suspect or the officer involved other than saying the officer has been with the force for several years.

The owner of the shed told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News there were several residents inside the house and no one knew what was going on outside.

"This is adult family home and my clients, my residents are screaming, what's going on," said the woman who could not be identified. “There were four or six [shots], bang bang like that."

State troopers in Pierce County first tried to stop the suspect for speeding in a white pickup truck.

The man and a female passenger sped off and drove to Beacon Hill.

Police say the man jumped out of the moving truck, causing it to crash, injuring the woman.

He then hid in the storage shed.

According to Seattle police, then told officers he had a pistol.

"Officers confronted the suspect. The suspect pulled out a gun, pointed it at officers and one of the cover officers fired and hit the suspect," said SPD spokesperson Chris Fowler.

Fowler said he didn’t know if the suspect fired at officers or how many times the suspect was hit.

KIRO 7 saw a crime scene investigator taking a piece of plywood from the shed with around 10 bullet holes in it.

One neighbor stayed the night at a friend’s house after not being able to go home last night.

“Oh, I'm afraid,” said Gudy Bello.

Other neighbors are shaken as well but say they understand the officer's actions.

“If it's something -- if the guy did something wrong and police were trying to do the right thing then I feel safer," said Nicole Lui.

SPD is leading the investigation, along with the Force Investigations Team.

Personnel from the Office of Professional Accountability was at the scene last night and oversaw the investigation.

Chief O’Toole spoke out for the first time on the shooting late Wednesday morning.

She said police are still in the process of identifying the suspect’s family, that he did have a firearm and threatened the officer.

Wednesday afternoon Seattle police released video of the chase.

KIRO