Tacoma police shooting deemed justified

Published 1:21 pm Wednesday, March 23, 2011

TACOMA — The Pierce County prosecutor says a fatal police shooting of a transient last September in Tacoma was justified.

Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said the death of 64-year-old Richard Sims was unfortunate, but two officers acted lawfully when they responded to a report of a man with a knife talking to himself and behaving oddly at a bus stop.

Officials say as one officer attempted to control Sims with a kick he raised the knife. Both officers fired. Sims was hit three times and died at a hospital.