At a press conference today, the Seattle Police Department confirmed that yesterday's officer-shooting victim on Beacon Hill was a 31-year-old Asian male who raised and lowered a 32-caliber revolver to his head multiple times—while also attempting to drive a stolen vehicle—as officers ordered the man to put down his weapon.

"He was continually raising his arm," stated Paul McDonagh, Assistant Chief of SPD's Special Operations Bureau. "It appears [officers] were clearly following procedure... the officers felt they were in a threat environment." After ordering the man to drop his weapon, and watching as he backed out of an alley and onto the 1400 block of N Atlantic Street, officers surrounded the vehicle (later confirmed to be stolen) and three officers fired a total of five shots from their service weapons. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers then recovered the weapon, a New England 32-caliber revolver loaded with three live rounds and one spent casing.

But many questions about the victim and his motivations remain. SPD officials couldn't say whether or not the victim pointed his weapon at any of the officers, whether he spoke or issued threats during the confrontation before officers opened fire, or whether there were any items in the vehicle reportedly stolen from Queen Anne—like other stolen goods or a suicide note—that might be a clue as to his intentions. Officer McDonagh said that at this point, the victim had no discernible ties to the Beacon Hill neighborhood, where he was shot. McDonagh wouldn't comment on the victim's connection to the Queen Anne neighborhood, or if the victim has a connection to the stolen car's owner.

The fire department, which initiated contact with the victim when they received a report of a man slumped over the steering wheel of a VW car on the 1400 block of N Atlantic Street, have yet to issue a statement about the incident. But SPD says that, "we know that the gun did come out when they attempted to make contact."

The three officers who shot the man—Evan Ehring, Shawn Benshoof, Jeff Geohagan—were all veterans of SPD with 10, eight, and 16 years of experience, respectively. All three officers were placed on administrative leave, which is routine after an officer-involved shooting.