The family of a Black man shot in the head by the police as he held his infant daughter has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit.
Twenty-four-year-old Shaun Fuhr was killed in Seattle, Washington, on April 29, 2020.
Fuhr was holding onto his 1-year-old daughter as he ran through a construction site near Rainier Playfield when he was shot in the head by Officer Noah Zech of the Seattle Police Department’s SWAT team, a 15-year veteran of the police force.
The police were responding to an assault and child abduction near 38th Avenue and South Dakota Street.
Video of the shooting shows the police chasing Fuhr as they order him to stop running. Fuhr complies but is immediately shot by Zech, and the baby falls to the ground. After Zech and another officer approach Fuhr, one officer instructs the other to pick up the 1-year-old.
President of the NAACP in Seattle King County Carolyn Riley-Payne issued a statement calling the fatal shooting unnecessary.
“The officer who killed Mr. Fuhr shot at him while he was holding his little girl, and while he was running,” said Riley-Payne. “It is absolutely unacceptable that the officer demonstrated such utter disregard for the life and safety of the child.”
A copy of the lawsuit obtained by Atlanta Black Star noted that Fuhr obeyed the officers’ instructions and was unarmed when he was shot.
“At the time Shaun was shot, he was unarmed and cradling his infant daughter in his arms,” the lawsuit reads. “During a brief foot pursuit. Officer Noah Zech or another Seattle Police Officer instructed Shaun to stop. Pursuant to the command, Shaun stopped. After Shaun had stopped, Officer Noah Zech shot Shaun in the head. Shaun eventually died from his injuries.”
The lawsuit also noted that Fuhr “had enough time to contemplate his death and the harsh reality that he would never see his father or daughter again” after Zech shot him. He later died at the Harborview Medical Center.
Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best claimed that the infant’s safety was the police officers’ priority, according to KOMO News.
“The officers engaged him,” said Best. “They were very concerned about the welfare of the baby.”
The shooting was found to be justified by the Office of Police Accountability after the SPD was criticized for using excessive force.
“OPA determined that given the totality of the circumstances, further de-escalation at the time of the shooting was not safe or feasible,” said the OPA. “Moreover, OPA found the use of deadly force was reasonable, necessary, and proportional.
The OPA also noted Fuhr’s alleged assault against this child’s mother and claimed he was holding his child “in a manner that raised concerns for the child’s welfare.”
“Mr. Fuhr had previously engaged in violence towards the child’s mother, he was believed to be armed and dangerous, the officers could not see his right hand, he had repeatedly refused to surrender, and he was holding the child in a manner that raised concerns for the child’s welfare. OPA also considered the officer’s extensive SWAT training for similar scenarios and his belief that without immediate action, the child would be at serious risk of imminent harm.”
Shaun Fuhr’s father, Jason Fuhr, disagreed with the OPA’s findings.
“Did you shoot an unarmed man with a baby in his arms when he ran into a backyard where he had nowhere else to go?” asked Fuhr. “That’s the only question that needs to be asked.
