Man who fought Seattle gunman tells SPD, 'I wasn't a hero'

SEATTLE — A man named Lawrence was credited by Seattle police Thursday with perhaps preventing more bloodshed in Wendesday's deadly shootings at Cafe Racer on Roosevelt Way, but told the Seattle Police Department the hero of the day was a wounded employee who called 911.

The department posted an interview with Lawrence, who asked that his last name not be used, to their blog Thursday afternoon.

Lawrence said he's been getting his morning coffee at Cafe Racer for years and was sitting inside when gunman Ian Stawicki walked in at about 11 a.m.

"Just before it happened, I was looking at [Stawicki]," Lawrence told police. "He'd just been told he was 86'd [from the cafe] in a very polite manner."

He said he looked down at his phone and heard the "pop, pop" of gunshots. Lawrence grabbed a bar stool and used it to try to fight Stawicki and defend his friends in the cafe.

"I just threw the frigging stool at him, legs first," Lawrence said. "My brother died in the World Trade Center. I promised myself [that if something like this ever happened] I would never hide under a table."

He said that Stawicki "looked at me like he didn't care at all," moved toward the rear of the bar, and left him alone.

More information is availble on the SPD Blotter.

KIRO