King County Sheriff’s Office: Fatal shooting of 20-year-old armed with pen was justified

A King County Sheriff’s Office board reviewing use of force in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Tommy Le has concluded that the killing was in line with department policy, the office said today.

Le, a Vietnamese-American student, was shot in the back by a King County deputy on June 13, 2017. His family has since sued the county in federal court, alleging racial bias in Le’s death.

An initial report about Le’s shooting from the King County Sheriff’s Office said that Le had been holding a knife or “some sort of sharp object” when he was shot. Later, follow-up reporting from the Seattle Weekly revealed that Le had actually been holding a pen.

In the Use of Force Review Board report released today, board members — including four members of the force, King County Sheriff’s Officers Guild union president Steve Eggert, and the department’s legal adviser — concluded that Deputy Cesar Molina’s shooting was justified.

Sheriff’s Office deputies were first dispatched to the scene in a Burien neighborhood to respond to a report from a witness that he was attacked by a man with a knife. Later, that same man told deputies that he wasn’t sure it was a knife, but a pointed object, and he said that other witnesses heard the man saying he was “the creator.” The witness wondered if the man he saw had mental health issues.

A second witness, according to the Sheriff’s Office, said the same man attacked him with a knife and fired at Le from his personal handgun. That witness was afraid he would be stabbed, the Sheriff’s Office said, and so then went inside his home, where he heard what he believed to be stabbing at the door.

Molina and another officer who responded to the scene said that Le approached them after they arrived, moving quickly with his fists clenched. Molina said he drew his Taser and ordered Le to get on the ground, but Le ignored him.

Both officers deployed their Tasers, but it wasn’t clear whether the probes made contact with Le. Molina said Le continued to move towards the other officer, who shouted for Le to stop. Molina said he then shot Le three to five times.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, both witnesses and Molina believed Le was holding a knife. The officers said they feared for their lives.

“Although Deputies & witnesses were convinced Le had a knife, it is not clear that events would have evolved differently even if deputies realized that Le held a pen,” the release from the Sheriff’s Office said. “A pen can be used as an improvised weapon.”

The release continued:

"Aimed at vulnerable parts of the body, like the face or throat, it can cause serious bodily injury if used to stab someone. In this case, Le was moving quickly toward the deputies with the object held in a clenched fist and did not acknowledge verbal commands to drop what he was holding, leading Deputy Molina to fear for his safety and the safety of others. "

"In closing, our hearts continue to go out to the Le family," the release said. "They have lost a cherished son, brother, nephew and friend and we continue to be mindful of their loss and their grief."

Jeffrey Campiche, the attorney for the Le family, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Use of Force Review Board investigations typically aren’t conducted until after a public fact-finding mission — called an inquest — is completed on the officer-involved shooting. King County Executive Dow Constantine, however, chose early this year to suspend all inquests until the inquest process was reformed after a series of high-profile officer-involved shootings in the county last year.

Deborah Jacobs, the head of the county’s Office of Law Enforcement Oversight, declined to comment on the outcome of the Use of Force Review Board findings.

Her office only reviews investigations if a citizen has filed a complaint, and in the Le case, no one had, she said.