Autopsy says King County deputy fatally shot Burien man in back

SEATTLE — An autopsy report released Thursday shows that a 20-year-old Burien man killed by a sheriff’s deputy was shot twice in the back and once in the left wrist.

The family of Tommy Le released the autopsy results as they announced plans to file a federal civil-rights claim against the King County Sheriff’s Office seeking $20 million, the Seattlepi.com reported.

“I cannot find any plausible way my son would deserve to be shot in the back,” said Hoai Le, Tommy Le’s father, through a Vietnamese interpreter at a news conference.

The autopsy also revealed that Le had no drugs or alcohol in his system when he was shot despite reports that his behavior at the time was bizarre, said Jeffrey Campiche, an attorney for Le’s family.

Deputy Cesar Molina fired at Le in Burien on June 13 after responding to reports that Le had been threatening people with a knife.

Deputies confronted Le, who refused commands to drop what they thought was a knife, according to the sheriff’s office, who says efforts to use a Taser on Le were ineffective.

Over a week later, the sheriff’s office reported Le had a pen at the time, not a knife.