• About
  • Events
  • Community Calendar
  • Advertise
  • Subscriptions
  • Foundation
  • Contact
  • Seattle Chinese Post

Northwest Asian Weekly

  • Community
    • Names in the News
    • Local
    • Business
    • Pictorials
    • Obituaries
  • Nation
  • World
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Columns
    • On the Shelf
    • At the Movies
    • A-POP!
    • Publisher Ng’s blog
    • The Layup Drill
    • Travel
    • Wayne’s Worlds
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentary
    • Publisher Ng’s blog
    • Letters to the Editor
  • Astrology
  • Classifieds
  • Community Calendar
You are here: Home / News / Community News / Family of Tommy Le, shot in back by deputies, to sue County

Family of Tommy Le, shot in back by deputies, to sue County

September 14, 2017 By Northwest Asian Weekly

Associated Press

News conference on Sept. 7 with Tommy Le’s family as their lawyers discuss the autopsy results. (Photo by Hana Kim/Q13 Fox)

SEATTLE — An autopsy report released Sept. 7 shows that a 20-year-old Burien man killed by a sheriff’s deputy was shot twice in the back and once in the left wrist.

The family of Tommy Le released the autopsy results, as they announced plans to file a federal civil-rights claim against the King County Sheriff’s Office seeking $20 million, the Seattle PI reported.

“I cannot find any plausible way my son would deserve to be shot in the back,” said Hoai Le, Tommy Le’s father, through a Vietnamese interpreter at a news conference.

The autopsy also revealed that Le had no drugs or alcohol in his system when he was shot, despite reports that his behavior at the time was bizarre, said Jeffrey Campiche, an attorney for Le’s family.

Deputy Cesar Molina fired at Le in Burien on June 13 after responding to reports that Le had been threatening people with a knife.

Deputies confronted Le, who refused commands to drop what they thought was a knife, according to the sheriff’s office, who says efforts to use a Taser on Le were ineffective.

Over a week later, the sheriff’s office reported Le had a pen at the time, not a knife.

Campiche and Le’s family said that Le, an aspiring firefighter, had no history of mental health problems. Campiche also said the deputy who killed Le overreacted after the Taser application to Le’s chest failed.

King County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Sgt. Cindi West said that before commenting, the sheriff’s office wants the investigation to be completed and an inquest held.

“We expect an inquest to be scheduled soon by the KC (King County) Prosecutor’s Office, where all the facts will be produced,” she said in an email.

Speaking at a July forum about the shooting, Sheriff John Urquhart said witnesses in Le’s house and across the street said they saw Le return to his house down the street and then leave again with a pen before the shooting, Urquhart said.

Investigators found a knife similar to one witnesses described in the house, he said.

The shooting is being investigated by the sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit.

The planned claim by Le’s family, which precedes a lawsuit, would seek $10 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages, Campiche said. ■

Share:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Community News Tagged With: VOL 36 NO 37 | SEPT 9 - SEPT 15

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Find us on Issuu!

Subscribe to our e-news

© 2020 NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
412 MAYNARD AVE. S., SEATTLE, WA 98104
206-223-5559 | INFO@NWASIANWEEKLY.COM
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.