The name of the man whom King County Swat Team members shot and killed hours after he’d taken three members of his family hostage in their Algona home on Dec. 27 has not yet been released.
But the Independent Force Investigation Team (IFIT) of the Bellevue Police Department, which was handed the investigation into the officer-involved fatality in accordance with state law, already has its hands full trying to sort out what happened.
Meeghan Black. public information officer for the Bellevue PD and the IFIT, said the outcome of that investigation will determine whether any charges are forwarded to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s office.
Here is what happened, as summarized from a release provided by Algona Police.
About 1 p.m., on Dec. 27, Algona Police officers were headed to a reported domestic violence situation with an “armed and suicidal” subject in the 200 block of Algona Boulevard South when they learned there was a current, court-issued, no-contact order against him.
When officers arrived at the property, they tried to contact a woman who was among the hostages. When that didn’t work, officers tried to get the hostages out, but the man fired on them, so they retreated to a safe place and called for back-up, according to the release.
Auburn, Kent, Des Moines, Federal Way, and Tukwila Police, and a behavioral health unit and hostage negotiation team responded to the call and hurried to the scene, and police set up a safety perimeter around the property.
The hostage negotiation team talked with the man to end the situation peacefully, but after several hours of conversation and negotiation, team members determined that the hostages were still in danger, so police undertook a mission to rescue them, which succeeded without anyone getting hurt, according to the release.
Following the rescue, officers encountered the suspect, and two Valley SWAT team members from Kent and Des Moines shot him. Despite the best efforts of King County Medic One, he died. No one else was hurt in the incident, according to the release.
Black said the IFIT will release public notifications weekly until the its investigation is finished.
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