The Shooting of John T. Williams: The Incident and Investigation

On August 30^th 2010 a 50 year old man named John Williams was shot and killed by Seattle Police Department officer, 27 year old Ian Birk. Williams was a member of the Ditidaht First Nation and was generally without a permanent residence, an alcoholic and supported himself by making traditional woodcarvings. The shooting took place at the corner of

Boren Avenue

and

Howell Street

. The officer saw Williams cross the street with a knife in his hand and a piece of wood. The knife was a three inch carving knife which is within the legal limit in the city of Seattle. Birk walked up to Williams, who may have been facing away from him, and told him three times to drop the knife. Williams did not, so the officer shot him four times on the right side of his body, killing the woodcarver. These are the widely accepted facts of the incident.

            Over 40 local news, opinion, editorial and letters to the editor relating to the Williams shooting have been published in the Seattle times since the day of his death. Many more basic facts about the incident are unknown or unclear. For example, was Williams threatening the officer? One witness says he “didn’t look aggressive at all. He didn’t even look up at the officer.” The placement of the bullets shows that Williams may not have even been facing Officer Birk and instead had his side to him. The coroners report and witness accounts are not conclusive on this portion. It is also reported that Williams was deaf in one ear, or at least he told people he was. In addition some articles mention that his body was found with headphones though it is unknown if he had them in his ears at the time. It is also unknown whether he was drunk at the time. Workers at the Chief Seattle Club, a relief center for native people in Seattle, and the alcoholics’ center in the Downtown Emergency Services Center believe that Williams had a hard time processing and reacting when spoken to, especially when required to do so quickly. This is also supported by the owner of Ye Old Curiosity Shop where Williams sold his totems as his family has done since the 1880s. The incident lasted in total about a minute and some reports say that only fifteen seconds spanned the first order from the officer and the firing of his gun.

           Following the initial report the officials and the public have had a large number of questions for the police department. These include: Why was the officer not armed with a tazer? Why did the officer not call for backup instead of firing? Why did Birk not use his patrol car for cover? In response to the first question police chief John Diaz says that fewer officers are equipped with tazers because they require extra training and he has “seen inappropriate use” of them as well. The second two questions were largely in the hands of the officer himself though they do call into question what he should have done and what his training recommended. 

            Originally the police department reported Williams as having acted threateningly towards Officer Birk though later that statement was withdrawn. From the beginning Police Chief Diaz has claimed the investigation will be completely “transparent” and they will do everything possible to get to the bottom of the issue. The police immediately made statements deciding to review their officer training and use of force curriculum in light of the incident. About one week after the death of Williams police officials including the police chief and interim deputy chief attended a meeting with local native leaders. They discussed the community concerns and the actions to be taken. Interim Deputy Chief Nick Metz expressed his regret that the police had not had much of a relationship with the Native American community before the shooting. The police have decided to put a new emphasis on community relationships by making nine police captains and one of two deputy chiefs focus on the issue. In addition, 300 more officers will be equipped with tazers and 40 will have small video cameras on their uniforms. The chief said that the police had been caught in “response mode” with officers being deployed in their cars in response to an incident. Instead he will increase the number of bike and foot patrol officers in order to have them present and interacting with people when an incident occurs. From the beginning the public and officials have called for an outside agency to review the investigation in order to ensure it is unbiased. This agency will be the Seattle US Attorney’s Office. About two and a half weeks after the shooting protesters marched on city hall, peacefully singing songs and carrying cedar branches. There they were met by the mayor of whom they demanded a tribal liaison office at city hall. The mayor, Mike McGinn, said a “historic injustice” had been made and that they will be “held accountable” for their actions. Early in October the Firearms Review Board, a four person police official’s board which investigates every time an officer’s gun is fired, ruled that the shooting was unjustified. This is the first time in almost forty years that the FRB has ruled a shooting unjustified and has been called a step in the right direction by many. It remains to be seen what conclusion the police investigation will come to and whether the US Attorney’s office will rule the investigation unbiased.

            See part two for source list

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