This afternoon, the Seattle Police Department briefed reporters on the fatal Monday-night shooting of a suspect by Seattle Police at a Wedgwood QFC. Seattle Police were searching for the man, identified as Ariel Rosenfeld, after he allegedly choked his own mother—whom he lived with—on Sunday. Three officers were dispatched to the neighborhood QFC at around 8:30 p.m. after employees alerted police that Rosenfeld, who worked at the store, was in the building.
Both Deputy Chief Clark Kimerer and Assistant Chief Mike Sanford assured reporters that the fight never entered public areas of the QFC and defended the officer’s use of force.
- Seattle Police Department
- A Picture of Rosenfeld’s Beretta
When police arrived, an epic fight ensued. Deputy Chief Clark Kimerer stated that the struggle pitted three “big officers” against the 43-year-old alleged mother-abuser, who had a history of trying to elude police. The suspect fought officers through several rooms as well as a hallway and a stairwell. It was a close quarters struggle, and Rosenfeld, perhaps hoping to tip the odds in his favor, drew a .22-caliber semiautomatic Berretta, according to Assistant Chief Mike Sanford. Officer Chris Anderson, an 11-year veteran with the force, spotted the gun and ordered Rosenfeld to drop his weapon. When Rosenfeld refused to comply, Anderson drew his own and shot Rosenfeld once, in the torso, ending the standoff.
“These were three police officers trying to control one person and they could not,” Sanford said.
Rosenfeld died last evening at Harborview Medical Center. Deputy Chief Kimerer said the Firearms Review Board will be convened, which is standard procedure in the event of a police shooting.
Gillian, Jesse, other Stranger editors, if you’re reading this, please make a style guide for the interns to follow, and make an entry in which ‘allusion’ is differentiated from ‘elusion’, ‘elision’, ‘illusion,’ and ‘evasion.’ Knowing the differences is apparently too much to expect from an American public school graduate.
@1: Harsh, Tai.
if you pull it, you better use it. what did this asshat think would happen?
I mourn for the guys mom. No mother deserves a son who abuses her, but the loss she must still be feeling at this is equally terrible.
Pulling a gun on cops is never a smart move. Dude signed his own death warrant.
You don’t have to put out the red light.
^^^^ actual police allusion
Yes, I know it’s already been fixed. I’m just saying.
holy shite that’s my QFC. i bet i’ve seen the guy. sounds like suicide by cop.
This particular store is only about 1/4 the size of a typical grocery, so the fact that this scene went down anywhere inside the building when customers were present is pretty alarming.
I’d be curious to know why the police thought is was necessary to go after this guy inside a public business during regular operating hours. It must have occurred to someone that a dude who just choked his own mother might not be willing to go quietly. And there’s no way he habitually carried a gun without someone knowing about it. I can only guess that the police were worried he might go on a rampage if they didn’t apprehend him immediately.
It was an unfortunate suicide, he was asked to leave his mothers residence that night and had nowhere to live. He is missed and was loved. It was the final desperate act in a series of frustrations and disapointments in his life over the past few years.