Police shoot, kill man wielding sword after stop

SEATTLE — Police officers fatally shot a man Monday in the city’s University District Monday when he ignored orders to put down a sword he was wielding in a threatening manner, police said.

The man, whose name was not immediately released, died of four gunshot wounds to the upper chest and abdomen at Harborview Medical Center around 2:50 p.m., Harborview spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson said.

Two officers fired the shots after trying to subdue the man with a stun gun, police said. The non-lethal weapon, which delivers an electric shock, was not effective because the man was too far away, police said.

The shooting happened after a routine traffic stop, when the man sped off, smashed into another vehicle, then jumped out of his car and started running down a residential street brandishing the sword, police said.

Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske commended the officers — a rookie and an eight-year veteran — saying they "did an awful lot to try to disarm him."

Study: Law hits blacks disproportionately: Washington state’s "three-strikes" law, intended to take violent repeat offenders off the streets, has resulted in life sentences for blacks at a much higher rate than for whites, according to a report from the state Sentencing Guidelines Commission. Blacks make up 3 percent of the statewide population, and 37 percent of the state’s three-strike lifers. Whites make up 83 percent of Washington’s population, and 55 percent of those imprisoned for life under the law. The report analyzed 2000 census data, excluding people who identified themselves as multiracial, comparing the data with state sentencing data from 1994 through 2000. It excluded inmates whose race or ethnicity was unknown or identified as "other." The study also found Americans Indians make up 1 percent of the population and 3 percent of three-strike lifers. Hispanics make up 6 percent of the state population and just 4 percent of three-strike lifers. Asian/Pacific Islanders make up 6 percent of the population and less than 1 percent of three-strike lifers. Voters passed Initiative 593, the Persistent Offender Act, in 1993 by a 3-to-1 margin.

Snoqualmie Pass

Power outage hits ski slopes at Snoqualmie West: A power outage hit the western slopes of Summit at Snoqualmie Monday, shutting down chair lifts on what’s usually one of the busiest days of the ski season. Ticket booths closed. And the only way up the hill was to hike. A porcelain transformer malfunctioned, causing the outage at Summit West around 10 a.m., Puget Sound Energy officials said. Using auxiliary power, the ski area got everyone off the lifts in about 45 minutes. Some people migrated to Snoqualmie’s central slopes, where power was restored about 90 minutes after the outage. Nobody was hurt.

Entiat

Body of missing snowmobiler found: The body of a missing snowmobiler from Seattle was found at the bottom of a steep, rocky hillside near Ardenvoir, about eight miles northwest of here. His snowmobile was found 150 feet away. Jack C. Hardie II, 29, was reported missing Saturday afternoon. His body was discovered Saturday night by a firefighter who was part of the search team. Hardie’s family lives in Entiat. Chelan County authorities scheduled an autopsy to determine the cause of his death.

Walla Walla

Skeletal remains found: Skeletal remains found south of here are believed to be those of an American Indian woman who likely died more than 150 years ago. The remains were discovered Saturday near an area that once was a Catholic cemetery. Representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation asked that the exact location not be disclosed. It is a felony to change, destroy or remove American Indian human remains. The land where the remains were found is owned by Pinecrest Village, a development corporation. Sale of the land has been placed on hold until the matter is resolved. Julie Longenecker, a tribal anthropologist, examined the remains and told the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin on Monday that the bones fit the physical criteria for American Indian remains. The remains are believed to be of a woman in her early 20s, Longenecker said.

From Herald news services