The shooting is not going over well with the Native American community in Seattle.

[link to seattletimes.nwsource.com]

The Native American Indian man's name was John T. Williams.
He was 50 years old, deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other.

Williams was a member of the Chief Seattle Club in Pioneer Square, a day center and social-service agency that provides hot meals, health care and other help for Native Americans and First Nations people of Canada, according to an employee of the club.

The shooter policeman didn't call for a backup before shooting the Indian man.

The policeman fired 4 shots at the Indian man - a correction from the title of this thread.

Officer Ian Birk fired four rounds at John T. Williams, a wood carver who had a folding knife with a 3-inch blade and a piece of wood in his hands.

Acting Deputy Chief Nick Metz said Tuesday that Birk was stopped in his car at a red light as he headed south on Boren when he spotted Williams walking in a crosswalk "carrying a wooden board and a knife."

"He could see the blade of the knife and the man was doing something to the board," Metz said.

Birk activated his emergency lights, which automatically switched on his in-car video camera, Metz said. The officer also activated a recording device, Metz said.