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Ian Birk, 27, who joined the department two years ago, was on patrol Monday afternoon when he saw John T. Williams crossing Boren Avenue at Howell Street carrying a folding knife and a piece of wood.
The officer pulled his cruiser over and approached Williams, police officials said. Police say Birk ordered him to drop the knife three times before he fired five shots from a distance of nine to 10 feet killing him. The knife was found closed.
Initial reports by the police were that the man advanced on the officer with the knife; however, the department on Tuesday said it could no longer be sure that occurred.
Sean Whitcomb, the police department's spokesman, said Wednesday that the department was looking for additional witnesses to the shooting or anyone who might have been with Williams earlier in the day.
Birk has been placed on routine administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Alex Castas, general manager of Ye Olde Curiosity Shop on the Seattle waterfront, said his shop has been buying carvings from Williams' family for five generations, stretching back to the 1880s, when the shop used to buy from tribal members paddling up in canoes.
He said he had known Williams for 15 years, and never known him to be violent, though he often knew Williams to be incoherent because of drinking.
"I can definitely see a scenario where John had been drinking and it is taking him a while to focus exactly on what is going on; I could see him tripping more than I could see him lunging."
It was the same for Chaney Haney and Julie Reisman, co-owners of Glo, a restaurant on Capitol Hill where Williams sold his work, and liked to sit on the bench outside on the sidewalk, carving.
"I wonder if the officer knew he was hard of hearing; he told me he could not hear out of one ear," Haney said. "If it was my guess, I would just say he was standing there and the officer was trying to get his attention and John didn't hear him."
Reisman said Williams was slow on his feet, and difficult to communicate with.
"He is not a lucid person. You can't have a coherent conversation with him. You say, 'How is it going?' and he will start talking about something that has nothing to do with here and now," Reisman said. "There was a real disconnect there between what he was receiving and what he was putting out."
Ian Birk, 27, who joined the department two years ago, was on patrol Monday afternoon when he saw John T. Williams crossing Boren Avenue at Howell Street carrying a folding knife and a piece of wood.
The officer pulled his cruiser over and approached Williams, police officials said. Police say Birk ordered him to drop the knife three times before he fired five shots from a distance of nine to 10 feet killing him. The knife was found closed.
Initial reports by the police were that the man advanced on the officer with the knife; however, the department on Tuesday said it could no longer be sure that occurred.
Sean Whitcomb, the police department's spokesman, said Wednesday that the department was looking for additional witnesses to the shooting or anyone who might have been with Williams earlier in the day.
Birk has been placed on routine administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Alex Castas, general manager of Ye Olde Curiosity Shop on the Seattle waterfront, said his shop has been buying carvings from Williams' family for five generations, stretching back to the 1880s, when the shop used to buy from tribal members paddling up in canoes.
He said he had known Williams for 15 years, and never known him to be violent, though he often knew Williams to be incoherent because of drinking.
"I can definitely see a scenario where John had been drinking and it is taking him a while to focus exactly on what is going on; I could see him tripping more than I could see him lunging."
It was the same for Chaney Haney and Julie Reisman, co-owners of Glo, a restaurant on Capitol Hill where Williams sold his work, and liked to sit on the bench outside on the sidewalk, carving.
"I wonder if the officer knew he was hard of hearing; he told me he could not hear out of one ear," Haney said. "If it was my guess, I would just say he was standing there and the officer was trying to get his attention and John didn't hear him."
Reisman said Williams was slow on his feet, and difficult to communicate with.
"He is not a lucid person. You can't have a coherent conversation with him. You say, 'How is it going?' and he will start talking about something that has nothing to do with here and now," Reisman said. "There was a real disconnect there between what he was receiving and what he was putting out."
