Police killing raises familiar Seattle issues

SEATTLE — Two Seattle police officers who shot and killed a pregnant woman inside her apartment had less-lethal options and had been trained to deal with people showing signs of mental illness and other behavior crises.

Still, within minutes of arriving Sunday to take a burglary report, the officers drew their guns and shot 30-year-old Charleena Lyles with three of her four children inside her apartment.

Authorities say Lyles confronted the officers with two kitchen knives — less than two weeks after she had threatened officers with long metal shears when they responded to a domestic disturbance at her home.

The killing raised new questions about use of force by Seattle police as the department remains under federal oversight following a 2011 investigation that found officers were too quick to use it All Seattle officers now receive training on how to better handle people with mental illness or have been abusing drugs. One of the officers who shot Lyles had been certified as a crisis intervention specialist.

Officials say the officers had at least one less-lethal way to handle the woman they knew had a previous volatile encounter with law enforcement and had been having mental health issues.

Family members have suggested the race of Lyles, who was black, might have played a part in the shooting and want to know why police didn’t use a non-lethal option.

Police on Wednesday identified the two officers as 34-year-old Steven Mcnew and 32-year-old Jason Anderson.