Man Brandishing Knife Shot, Killed By Police

A man who had just bought a knife at a discount store was killed after he was shot by Tacoma police officers at a bus stop Friday afternoon, Tacoma police said.

Tacoma Police Department spokesman Mark Fulghum said the man was shot by two Tacoma police officers at a bus stop in front of the Loose Wheel Tavern Bar & Grill in the 6100 block of Sixth Avenue near the Narrows Bridge.

Police told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Richard Thompson that officers were dispatched to the area shortly after 3 p.m. after receiving reports of a man with a knife acting strangely. When the officers arrived, they repeatedly ordered the man to put the knife down, police said.

Officers said the man refused. When he put the knife over his head in a threatening manner, both officers opened fire, Tacoma police said.

SLIDESHOW: Knife-Wielding Man Shot By Police

Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell said directly before the shooting, the man had walked into a Dollar Tree store, bought a knife and walked over to a bus stop, where he began waving the knife in the air.

Witnesses told Thompson they were shocked by what they saw.

“Then (officers) got out of the car and told the guy not to move or anything, and he just backed away, and the cops kicked him and shot him like four or five times,” said Brandon Scheetz.

Several other witnesses Thompson spoke to said they did not see a knife in the man's hands.

“I saw the guy run out, and he tried to make a run on the cop, and the cop shot him a few times from what I could tell,” said John Bush.

Tacoma police said the man had a knife he had just purchased from a discount store.

“He did have a knife in his hands. They made repeated directions to him to drop the knife, put it down and get rid of it,” said Fulghum.

Tacoma officers said it was only when the man refused their orders and became aggressive that they used deadly force.

“He refused to comply and, eventually, he moved the knife into an overhand position, a threatening manner, and moved toward the officers, at which point both fired shots,” said Fulghum.

The 50-year-old man died sometime after he was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center.

Both officers have been placed on administrative leave.

The shooting is the third fatal officer-involved shooting this week.

On Monday, a man was killed by officers in downtown Seattle. On Tuesday, a man in Federal Way driving a stolen truck was shot.

Another man died on Tuesday in Spanaway after officers used a Taser to subdue him.