Shaun Fuhr, 24

Seattle, Washington
April 29, 2020

Cause of death: Shooting

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Last updated: almost 4 years ago

Overview

24-year-old Shaun Fuhr died at Harborview Medical Center after he was shot by a Seattle police officer last week.

Fuhr died April 29 from a gunshot wound to the head, according to death investigators.

Seattle police SWAT Officer Noah Zech, 35, was placed on paid administrative leave following the April 29 officer-involved shooting in Seattle’s Mount Baker neighborhood.

According to police, a woman called 911 around 2:15 p.m. on April 29 and reported that her boyfriend, who is the father of her 1-year-old daughter, had beat her at a home in Des Moines, forced her into a car and drove her to a South Seattle hotel, where the beating continued. The couple and their child then drove to Columbia City and the woman reported that her boyfriend had fired a gun at her, once in the car and a second time at the Rainier Playfield; the woman reported her boyfriend had taken their daughter at gunpoint and fled, police said.

Seattle police released footage from an officer’s body-worn camera, which showed several officers chasing a man on foot as he ran through a small parking lot and around the side of a building, where they confront him. The man was holding the child when he was shot, and another officer runs over and picks the child up. Police said the child was not injured.

Fuhr was shot around 2:50 p.m. in the 4100 block of 37th Avenue South, according to the Seattle Fire Department’s online log of 911 responses.

Carolyn Riley-Payne, president of NAACP Seattle King County, issued a statement Wednesday evening decrying the fatal shooting as unnecessary and demanding a thorough investigation into Fuhr’s death.

“From the SPD video, it does not appear that the deadly force used by the officer was necessary. From the video, it appears that at no time did Mr. Fuhr display a weapon at the police or any other person as he was being chased and no talk of a weapon by the officers is heard on the video audio while they are chasing him down,” the statement says. “SPD Chief Carmen Best has stated that the officers ‘engaged’ Mr. Fuhr; however, the video shows that the police chased the victim and shot him, without apparent warning. From the video it is apparent that Mr. Fuhr did not see or hear the shot coming.”

The statement also criticized Best’s assertion that officers were concerned about the safety of Fuhr’s young daughter.

“The officer who killed Mr. Fuhr shot at him while he was holding his little girl, and while he was running. It is absolutely unacceptable that the officer demonstrated such utter disregard for the life and safety of the child.”