The King County Sheriff’s Office and Washington State Patrol are investigating a deadly shooting in south Seattle involving an armed man and multiple Seattle police officers, according to both agencies.
Police responded around 4:15 p.m. Oct. 30 to reports of a man armed with an axe near 5th Avenue South and South Holgate Street.
According to Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes, officers attempted to communicate with the man and used “less lethal force” after he advanced toward them, but it was ineffective.
As seen on newly released video, the man pulled out a gun and pointed it at an officer.
More than one officer fired their handguns, striking the man.
Officers immediately began first aid, assisted by Seattle Fire Department medics, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as 46-year-old Jack Paleli. His cause of death was listed as multiple gunshot wounds.
The King County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation under Washington’s Independent Investigative Team (IIT) protocol, which requires an outside agency to handle police use-of-force cases.
WSP’s Crime Scene Response Team is assisting with forensic work.
Chief Barnes noted that this was the first police shooting since the federal consent decree over the Seattle Police Department was lifted in September.
The decree, imposed in 2012 after a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into excessive force and biased policing, had required federal oversight of SPD for more than a decade.
Under state law, the release of information about the case is being coordinated through the King County Sheriff’s Office.
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