SEATTLE, Wash. — His German World War II military garb wasn't the reason.
The possibility that a New Year's Eve stupor or mental distress played a role is incidental.
The reason young Miles Murphy was cut down by Seattle police bullets early Thursday is he did not drop his weapon when officers told him repeatedly to do so.
Instead, police say, he pointed his Kar 98 German infantry rifle at them.
That confounding choice is the reason why Murphy became a New Year's Day tragedy at 22.
It's as if he had a death wish.
By all accounts Murphy was a bright man, a University of Washington student fascinated by history. He embraced the culture of World War II re-enactors. People who engage in such "living history" are passionate about it.
But the four responding uniformed Seattle officers knew nothing about Murphy's pedigree or hobby.
Murphy's dangerous behavior is what mattered to them.
Police received 911 calls from terrified neighbors before 2 a.m. about gunshots in the 5200 block of 17th Avenue Northeast.
Officers couldn't possibly have verified that Murphy had blanks in his rifle even though a witness did tell police. But officers on the receiving end of a rifle barrel don't have the luxury of believing what they've been told. They rely on training.
The officers eventually located the basement apartment where they believed the trouble had started.
What happened next took just seconds.
"The door starts to open," Chief Gil Kerlikowske told reporters at a news conference Friday. "Mr. Murphy emerged carrying a rifle."
Murphy was at the bottom of an outdoor stairwell. The officers were at the top.
About 10 feet separated them.
"Drop the weapon! Drop the rifle! Seattle police!"
Murphy nudged the rifle downward, the chief said, but then lifted it. Murphy locked eyes with the officers and took a step toward them.
That's when two of the officers – a 10-year veteran and a seven-year veteran – fired seven rifle rounds, killing him.
"They never," Kerlikowske said, "heard him utter a word."
As I listened to the chief, I was reminded of my recent experience in a police shooting range simulator.
The simulator put me in an officer's shoes.
I held a gun that shot a laser. A computer used interactive video scenarios to mimic the life-and-death decisions officers make. It takes, I learned, fractions of a second for a suspect to take aim and shoot you dead.
Imagine, then, what happens when a suspect already has a rifle drawn – as Murphy reportedly did. Or when the weapon shoots body-armor piercing rounds – as Murphy's German rifle could.
Even without firing, the bayonet affixed to Murphy's 4 1/2 -foot-long rifle – a blade about 10 inches long – is deadly. In one police-training exercise, officers learn that a suspect standing less than 21 feet away can rush up with a sharp object, inflicting a grave wound before the officer can even reach for a gun.
That's why police have a mantra: action before reaction. Hesitation could mean either the officer or an innocent bystander winds up dead.
"Why not use a Taser?" a reporter at Friday's news conference asked testily.
Simple: Police are trained to use lethal force to meet lethal force.
As for those who insist that officers should shoot a leg or hand to disable a gun-toting suspect, they've been watching too much Hollywood. "Myth," Kerlikowske summed up.
Officers are trained to shoot at the center of the body to stop the threat. The torso, or center of mass, offers the biggest target.
"Questions still have to be answered," Kerlikowske said, wrapping up.
But, judging from the available facts, he defends his officers.
Knowing what we do, I agree. This hasn't always been the case when it comes to Seattle police shootings.
There have been times when SPD officers have shot people dead for wrong reasons – and deserved a lashing. In 1988, for example, police barged into a Rainier Valley home and mortally shot an unarmed man.
Police had confused his television remote control for a gun.
But the Murphy shooting seems to be the sad case of a promising young man putting police in a position no officer ever wants to be in.
Now two sides are reeling from grief – Murphy's family and friends, and the two officers forced to take a life.
P-I columnist Robert L. Jamieson Jr. can be reached at 206-448-8125 or [email protected]
