SEATTLE (AP) — The King County prosecutor and the Seattle city attorney have told relatives of a woodcarver fatally shot by a Seattle police officer that they won’t ask that a citizen grand jury consider bringing criminal charges against Ian Birk.
County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg earlier declined to pursue murder or manslaughter charges against Birk, who resigned from the police department last month.
The Seattle Times reports the decisions by Satterberg and Seattle’s Peter Holmes were disclosed Friday in separate letters sent to lawyers for the family of John T. Williams. The family had requested that a grand jury look at the shooting.
Police have released a report that found Birk acted outside the department’s “policy, tactics and training” when he shot Williams four times last Aug. 30.