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Drunk, and playing with guns, Stupidity..

Police once had gun that triggered shooting Rifle was seized two years ago

By SCOTT GUTIERREZ
P-I REPORTER

A man Seattle police officers fatally shot after they say he pointed a rifle at them on New Year's Day had the weapon taken away by authorities two years ago.

At a news conference Friday about the shooting, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said officers seized the weapon from Miles Murphy on Nov. 10, 2006, for safekeeping. He would not disclose more about the seizure.

But a Police Department source familiar with the incident said officers were called because Murphy made suicide threats.

After several requests from Murphy's father, police returned the rifle to the father about two months later, Kerlikowske said.

Murphy, 22, was killed in the first hours of 2009 after allegedly pointing a World War II-vintage rifle at officers responding to a report of shots being fired.

Kerlikowske told reporters Friday that a witness told the four officers who responded that Murphy had been firing blanks. He said the officers had no way to know for certain and followed their training.

"Unfortunately, officers don't get the option -- especially with a 4 1/2 -foot rifle with a fixed bayonet -- to believe everything they're told, particularly by a witness. I would not want to see them put themselves or other people at risk by believing that," he said.

After the shooting, officers found that Murphy's rifle was loaded with blanks.

Murphy was shot after two people called 911 about 1:55 a.m. to report a group of five men, with at least one dressed in a military uniform, firing two guns in an alley in the 5200 block of 17th Avenue. Kerlikowske said Murphy had been drinking alcohol.

Police later discovered two other men inside Murphy's apartment. Information about another man with a shotgun turned out to be false, police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said.

Reached at the family's Maple Valley home, Murphy's mother, Dianne Murphy, said her son, a University of Washington student, was "a peaceful and loving young man. Everyone that knew him loved him."

Dianne Murphy said she had spoken with someone who witnessed the shooting, and that person's account differed from what police have said.

"The statement from the detectives left us with a lot of questions," she said. The family declined comment about the rifle.

Four uniformed patrol officers, armed with AR-15 rifles, went to an apartment where Murphy had emerged at the bottom of a three-story house. The officers were setting up "defensive positions" at the top of the steep stairwell when Murphy walked through the front door, carrying the rifle and dressed in a World War II olive military uniform, Kerlikowske said.

Murphy was carrying the Kar 98 infantry rifle in both hands, with the butt under an arm, but pointed toward the officers. The officers identified themselves as police and several times ordered him to drop it, Kerlikowske said.

"He raised the rifle and pointed it at them and briefly lowered it. He raised it again, pointing at the officers, while at the same time taking a step in their direction," Kerlikowske said. "They had eye contact with Mr. Murphy. They never heard him utter a word."

Two of the officers, from about 8 to 10 feet away, fired seven rounds. The officers, Kirk Waldorf and Adam Elias, were placed on administrative duties during the investigation. Waldorf is a 10-year veteran; Elias has seven years of experience. Both also have military experience, Kerlikowske said.


Andy Rogers / P-I
Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske told a news conference Friday that officers who fatally shot Miles Murphy early Thursday could not be sure that the rifle Murphy pointed at them was loaded with blanks.
The stairwell was narrow and well-lit, offering little room to maneuver. The area around it was muddy and slippery, he said.

Neither officer has been involved in a prior police shooting. Elias has undergone crisis-intervention training for dealing with the mentally ill and de-escalating tense situations, Kerlikowske said.

The officers entered the apartment and found the other two men, who surrendered. They said they had been with Murphy in the alley and that the group was drinking alcohol. Police found a box of live ammunition and other military relics, Kerlikowske said.

"I'm in no way characterizing this young man, or this incident, as anything other than what it truly is -- a tragedy," he said.

Friends and acquaintances said Murphy had an abiding fascination with history and that he often dressed in clothing from past eras.

The department's firearms review board, which has a civilian member, will review the shooting, Kerlikowske said. He also expected King County to hold an inquest hearing before a jury, which is standard in fatal police-related shootings.

One resident of Murphy's building, who declined to be named, acknowledged being one of several people in the neighborhood who called 911 after being alarmed at seeing people firing guns in a confined alley surrounded by family homes and apartments.

"It is really tragic, but at the root of this ... I think this was primarily a combination of extraordinarily poor judgment on his and his friends' part for discharging weapons in a city neighborhood -- like the police aren't going to respond to that?" the resident said.

"I had to listen to that man being shot, and I am sick about it all," said the resident, who was among witnesses taken downtown to police headquarters that night to give statements. "The police account corresponds with what I heard. I heard the officers give him shouted directions about putting the rifle down, not touching it, several times. And then when they did fire it was ... about six or eight all at once. To me it sounded like a volley of shots rather than a succession. I'm guessing it was the two officers with rifles who shot him."

This was the first fatal officer-involved shooting in Seattle since January 2007, when officers returned fire on a man who shot at them after threatening a motel owner on Aurora Avenue North. One of the officers was wounded in the exchange.

Murphy's mother, Dianne Murphy, said her son, a University of Washington student, was "a peaceful and loving young man. Everyone that knew him loved him."