Police released dashcam footage today from the fatal shooting on Sunday of a 47-year-old African American man named Che Andre Taylor. The shooting occurred near Wedgwood neighborhood where around 3:30 p.m. police were investigating a call about a suspicious car in the area, according to the Seattle Times. They report that officers saw a man armed with a holstered handgun and identified him as Taylor, a convicted felon who was legally barred from possessing a weapon. At 4:15 p.m. the officers called for backup to help take Taylor into custody. As Taylor stood in the doorway of a white Ford Taurus, a police vehicle with flashing lights pulled up facing the car. Officers ordered Taylor to show his hands and get on the ground – orders the police say he disobeyed.
In a statement accompanying the footage, police say, "According to officers, as well as a civilian witness interviewed by investigators, Taylor reached for his handgun, leading officers to fire."
Police performed CPR on Taylor until emergency services arrives. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he died a few hours later of gunshot wounds to his upper body.
Gerald Hankerson, president of the Seattle-King County NAACP, was a close friend of Taylor. As quoted in The Stranger, Hankerson criticized what he sees as the demonization of Taylor as a felon in some early media reports.
SPD Chief Kathleen O’Toole contacted community leaders. Hankerson told The Stranger that according to what O’Toole told him on Sunday night, it wasn’t clear Taylor had the weapon in his hand when he was shot, only that the weapon was “‘in reach.’” It’s not clear from the dashcam footage whether the weapon was in Taylor’s hand or not.
The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave, as is standard in such situations.
