SEATTLE —
A man is dead after Bellevue SWAT opened fire in a South Seattle neighborhood while serving a warrant.
Bellevue police spokeswoman Carla Iafrate said shortly before 5 a.m. Friday, SWAT officers were serving a warrant at a home in the 5000 blocks of 43rd Avenue South when the officer-involved shooting occurred.
The victim, identified as 51-year-old Russell Lydell Smith, was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he died.
The warrant was for Smith and another man who are suspects in several robberies in Bellevue.
A wanted robbery suspect tried to run down Bellevue Police SWAT officers in Seattle early this morning. He was fatally shot in the process. No officers were injured during the attempted assault.
Just before 5 a.m., Bellevue Police SWAT officers – in uniform with POLICE markings – were serving a search warrant in support of a Bellevue Police investigation into a spree of armed robberies. The suspects in these Bellevue cases live in Seattle, near 43rd Avenue S and S Hudson Street. Seattle Police were fully aware of this operation and Seattle Police robbery detectives were nearby to question the suspects. Seattle Police robbery detectives believe that these two suspects may be connected to armed robberies in Seattle as well.
Bellevue Police believed that both suspects were inside the home. Additionally, the tan Mercedes Benz belonging to the suspects was parked in the driveway.
As the SWAT officers approached the residence they noticed that one of the men they were looking for was sitting in the driver’s seat of the Mercedes. The suspect noticed the SWAT officers, too. He put the car in reverse and backed up with such velocity and disregard that he struck a parked Ford F-250 pickup truck and pushed it several yards into the street. The Bellevue officers gave multiple commands for the suspect to stop. The suspect then switched the car into drive and stepped on the gas.
Concerned that the suspect would drive them over rather than surrender, three Bellevue Police officers fired their weapons at this man, wounding him fatally. One discharged a handgun and two discharged rifles. The suspect struck a second vehicle before coming to a stop.
On March 22, 2013, around 5:00 a.m., a SWAT team from the Bellevue Police Department showed up at a tiny dead-end street in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood. They were there to arrest a suspect on a warrant for robbery.
http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/man-shot-killed-swat-officers-serve-warrant/nW2GQ/
http://www.ci.bellevue.wa.us/10530.htm
http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2013/03/22/suspected-robber-shot-during-search-warrant-service/
http://kuow.org/post/south-seattle-neighbors-want-answers-about-police-action-0
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