[kellyhound]

Seattle, Sam Toshiro Smith was more than a skilled sushi chef and an able musician.

The 27-year-old Port Townsend native was a dependable, hard-working employee and a compassionate listener his friends could always count on.

“If he said he would do something, he did it,” recalls Zeke Wakefield, a fellow Mar Vista Alternative High School graduate and one of Smith's closest friends since childhood. “He was always a man of his word.”

That's why Kyle Yoshimura, owner of Seattle restaurant and sushi bar 'Ohana, was surprised when Smith failed to show up for work at 9 a.m. Friday, July 17 at the restaurant's Belltown location, where Smith had managed the sushi bar for nearly three years.

“It was totally out of character so I was immediately concerned,” said Yoshimura, who got nowhere when trying to call Smith's cell phone. “He was so dependable and always on it. He was an employer's dream. He was a great guy, a skilled sushi chef and a hard worker. The sky was the limit for him as far I was concerned.”

That afternoon police showed up at the Belltown restaurant as well as Yoshimura's new location in Issaquah to inquire about Smith, who had been working double time over the past couple months to prepare for the new restaurant's opening.

“He'd been working really hard to get Issaquah open,” said Yoshimura. “I had given him a raise last week, put him on salary. He was part of my expansion team.”

Then, Yoshimura got a call from Smith's mother, who, while working a shift as a nurse at Jefferson Healthcare hospital in Port Townsend, had been visited by Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies informing her that her son had been fatally shot by a Seattle Police Department officer early that morning.

“We were all completely devastated not knowing how or why this happened,” said Yoshimura.

For Smith's mother, Sarah Fitch, “It was just so shocking and unbelievable.

“When they told me that he'd been in an altercation, I thought that had to be wrong, it had to be someone else,” said Fitch. “He would never do anything like that, ever.”

As Seattle media reported the shooting, friends and family in Port Townsend grieved, trying to avoid seeing an uncensored, police dashcam video posted online.

“What the media has shown is not who he was,” said Fitch. “He was not a violent man and had no [criminal] history. He was a gentle, sweet human being. I don't believe for one moment he did this intentionally. It troubles me greatly the way he's left the planet and this impression of him as a crazy man.”

SEATTLE SHOOTING

At about 4 a.m. July 17, a gray Mazda traveling southbound on Interstate 5 struck a Seattle Police Department patrol car from behind, sending it into the median, according to Seattle Police.

The car fled and police began scouring the area for a “grey Mazda,” finding a vehicle that matched the description parked in the 6500 block of Ravenna Avenue, according to police.

Officer Shaun Hilton who spotted the vehicle stopped his patrol car in the street, got out and contacted Smith, who reportedly got out of the Mazda and “suddenly ran toward the officer, raising a 10-inch knife up over his head,” according to police. Much of the incident is visible on dashcam video made public.

The officer backed up and shot Smith 3 times. Smith died at the scene as other officers arrived seconds after the shooting, according to police.

[Mufasa7]

while it looked like the guy was within lunging distance he actually wasn't wearing shoes, which reduces his effective lunging distance. Hence this was a premature shooting

[Dennislp3]

How was it premature? Was the cop supposed to wait until he was within a certain distance?

What a dumbass comment...

[zaksaladfingers]

Fuck that knife wielder. "Lunging distance" ? Are you kidding? You're a dumbass.

[Oswald2001]

He allowed the guy to get too close before firing.

Luckily, the cop was not injured or killed.

[Pyramid_Head]

Got what he asked for, good for the cop.

[Desensitisation]

Run, or "prance" at a cop with a knife? Dumbass got what was coming.

[SilentWolf]

That was a perfectly legitimate shoot. Knives are nasty evil things. Never mess with them, especially that close. I rather get shot (with a handgun) than cut up.

[Shakey]

Suicide?