Witness: Man shot by cop didn't appear threatening Inquest into fatal incident continues

Officer Ian Birk shown by his patrol car camera shortly before fatally shooting John T. Williams. (Seattle Police Department image) Officer Ian Birk shown by his patrol car camera shortly before fatally shooting John T. Williams. (Seattle Police Department image) Photo: / Photo: / Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Witness: Man shot by cop didn't appear threatening 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The officer who fataly shot John Williams stood in court Wednesday holding the board the Native American carver was carrying and re-enacted the posture that made Ian Birk believe he was facing a deadly threat.

But a man who witnessed the Aug. 30 shooting said he didn't think Birk was in any danger. John Hartsfield was headed south on Boren Avenue across Howell Street when Birk confronted Williams.

"He (Birk) seemed more aggressive than I was expecting," Hartsfield testified.

Earlier in the inquest, a homicide detective acknowledged none of the witnesses thought Williams was posing a threat to Birk or others. Later the detective noted that none of the witnesses reported seeing Williams' knife.

Birk, talking about the case for the first time publicly this week, spent a second day testifying to an inquest jury that will find whether the shooting was justified. Their finding will have no immediate impact, but King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg will make a charging decision after the jury's decision.

The 27-year-old officer appeared calm when pressed by Tim Ford, the attorney representing the Williams family. Much of Ford's questions were about the options Birk had and didn't use -- taking a step back, calling for backup, and specifically saying he would shoot if the knife wasn't dropped -- before firing at Williams.

Birk said he followed his training and didn't have time to take other action with what he perceived as a deadly threat from Williams. He clarified when questioned by his own attorney, Ted Buck, that he was not required to tell Williams he would shoot if he didn't drop the knife.

"There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that I was facing the blade of a knife when I made the decision to fire," said Birk, who often spoke to the jury during his two-day testimony.

Birk said Williams' didn't look confused, didn't put his hands up, didn't show any sign he would comply with the order to drop the knife. The officer told the court he didn't think Williams' initial look back was a sign of compliance, and that it would have been a stretch for Williams to place the knife on a nearby wall. He said he was left with no other reasonable alternative other than defending himself.

"I utilized all the time I felt that I had," Birk said. "But the situation escalated certainly more quickly than I could have known or predicted."

Ford pointed out the officer was wearing sunglasses that day. Williams knife has a black blade with silver on part of the outer edge, and a silver-and-black handle. Ford had additional questions of why the knife was found closed on the ground when Officer Grant Leavitt, who watched the knife from the time Birk took his foot off it to the point where other investigators relieved him, saw it.

"It did surprise me that the knife was closed, having just seen Mr. Williams holding a knife open in his hand," Birk said, looking to the jury. "I have no idea how that knife was closed, if that was the knife I saw initially or not."

Expected to testify later this week is Seattle Fire Department Lt. Lisa Barron, who reported finding a knife open near Williams. On Monday, lead case detective Jeffrey Mudd of the Seattle police homicide unit said a second knife fell from Williams right jacket pocket when investigators were looking for his identification. But Mudd said that knife was found closed.

Birk's patrol car footage was played several times again Wednesday, and he was asked extensively about why he acted so quickly. Birk also was asked about Williams Native American heritage, and said his reaction had nothing to do with Williams' ethnicity, but his behavior.

Ford asked Birk if he was troubled by the possibility he'd shot a man who wasn't committing a crime and had attempted to comply with the officers orders. Birk again said he feared Williams' aggressive stance and stare -- details from training he said indicated a possible attack -- and said he acted with what little time he had to protect himself from being hurt.

Prosecutors have indicated in previous court cases that Williams had a decades-long history of misdemeanors and gross misdemeanor violations, mostly related to conduct. Williams also had difficulties with alcohol. In September, brother Rick Williams said that after another of their brothers died, John Williams "just snapped" one day and threw a man through a plate-glass window. He spent time at Western State Hospital, a mental hospital, where Rick Williams said his brother was given medication he should have received.

Other than general questions about Williams' contact with police, his detailed past hasn't been discussed at the inquest.

Also in September, family described Williams as being deaf in one ear from sleeping outside. Mudd testified there was no medical documentation to support a hearing problem. On Monday The Seattle Times reported that Williams, who his family described after the shooting as an alcoholic, had a .18 blood-alcohol level when he was fatally shot -- an amount more than double the legal limit.

A particularly difficult moment for family members came near the end of Wednesday's testimony, when Leavitt described handcuffing Williams after he was shot. The officer explained that he didn't know what precluded the shooting and he was following training for a still-active scene. Birk testified that he was taught in some cases suspects can still be a threat after being hit multiple times.

But evidence later indicated that by the time officers handcuffed Williams, he was already dead.

Kevin Oshikawa-Clay, one of the first responding officers who also is an EMT, told the court Williams had no pulse and his pupils didn't react. The officer testified he didn't try CPR because he saw three bullet wounds to Williams chest, and CPR would have caused him to lose more blood.

Williams' shooting was one of five officer-involved shooting in Seattle last year and one of three that were fatal. In 2009, Seattle had the same number of officer-involved shootings, ending with the fatal confrontation involving Maurice Clemmons.

To read previous coverage of the Williams shooting inquest, click here.