The Seattle Police Department released dashcam footage of a pair of police shootings from last month, taking place within two hours of each other, including one where cops said they shot a man after mistaking a pellet gun for a real gun, another where they shot a knife-wielding man.
In the first incident, [__dashcam video__](https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=woyyaHGhubg), an officer shoots and injures a suspect’s hand, who turns out was only carrying a compressed-air pellet gun which resembled a Beretta 9mm firearm.
In the second incident, Seattle police shot a man carrying a knife and who police allege they caught in the middle of “car prowl” gone awry.
Both suspects survived the September 29 shootings and the cops were placed “on paid administrative leave per standard department policy,” which means that they’re getting a fully paid, taxpayer funded vacation.
Meanwhile, Seattle Police Department says “detectives from the department’s Force Investigations Team (FIT) and Crime Scene Investigators are processing evidence and reviewing statements from both incidents.”
The release of both dashcam video clips – [__on the day after the incident__](http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/2015/09/30/22941771/morning-news-seattle-police-swiftly-release-video-of-two-officer-involved-shootings-west-seattle-pot-shop-owner-clashes-with-city) – comes as the Seattle Police Department’s Chief Information Officer Bill Schrier vows to improve the city’s [__policing and transparency issues.__](https://twitter.com/SendEvidence/status/651436625201774592)
However, the videos don’t show the actual shootings as they take place off camera. And in one video, they cover one of the officer’s faces.
The department recently released other videos as part of the [__Seattle Police body worn video pilot program.__](https://data.seattle.gov/dataset/Videos-recorded-in-Phase-1-of-the-Seattle-Police-b/n6as-h2bj)
**Seattle Police Shoot Man who was “Car Prowling”**
“Video of the incident shows the man repeatedly refusing to follow officers’ orders to drop the weapon. Police attempted to use a Taser to disarm the man, but were unable to subdue him,” said a police statement.
The video footage only shows partially what occurred as the man took off resulting in a confrontation directly with the suspect.
“One of the officers fired multiple rounds, striking the suspect. Officers immediately called for Seattle Fire Department medics who took the suspect to Harborview Medical Center for treatment,” read a statement from the SPD.
“Patrol car recording systems were unable to capture audio of the confrontation as the suspect led officers out of the vehicles’ signal range.”
**Seattle Police Shoot Man Carrying Pellet Gun**
The pellet gun the 25-year-old suspect was carrying was made to look like a Beretta Model 92 9mm.
In the video clip, cops are tipped off by a security guard in a near-by building, who says a man had allegedly “brandished a handgun and fled.”
According to the pellet gun enthusiasts website[__, Pellet Gun Zone__](http://pelletgunzone.com/air-gun-laws/), in the state of Washington “it is prohibited to willfully discharge an air gun in a public place, or at any place where a person could be endangered.”
It is also against the law for any individual to carry or possess an air pistol that uses “compressed air, carbon dioxide, or other gas at or in a public or private school, school bus, or any area used by a public or private school.”
The officers, saw the suspect fleeing near Downtown, Seattle around 3 a.m., and chased after him.
“Two officers followed the suspect in their patrol car while they ordered him to drop his weapon and surrender,” read a statement from the Seattle Police Department.
“The officers stopped their patrol vehicle at 2nd and Spring Street and contacted the suspect, while again ordering him to drop his weapon and get down on the ground. The suspect did not comply,” the statement continued.
The suspect was arrested and then transferred to a nearby hospital for minor injuries.
