Video of a Seattle police officer fatally shooting a Vancouver Island woodcarver on the street earlier this year has been released to the public.
John Williams, a 50-year-old member of the Ditidaht people, was killed on Aug. 30 after being approached by rookie officer Ian Birk in downtown Seattle.
Video of the incident shows Williams walking down the street carrying a three-inch blade and a piece of wood. Birk orders him to put down the knife three times as he follows him down out of view. Less than a second later, five shots are fired in quick succession.
Later, Birk is heard telling fellow officers at the scene that Williams' knife was open. "He had it out. He was, uh, carving it up, carving up that board, with it open," he says. "Instructed him to drop it multiple times, he wouldn't do it."
Another officer is heard responding, "Good job."
Related: Watch the entire video on YouTube
Judge Arthur Chapman ruled the video, taken on the dashboard camera of Birk's police car, be released on Friday afternoon.
Police initially suggested Williams "made advances" on the officer, but Ditidaht Chief Jack Thompson has suggested the shooting may have come about because Williams was hard of hearing.
Williams was a talented woodcarver who had work displayed in a Seattle-area gallery. He had been living in the city for more than 15 years.
His death sparked anger on both sides of the border, with hundreds of people gathering in Seattle for a candle-lit vigil following his death.
Birk has been suspended pending an inquest scheduled for January 2011.
