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Fatal stabbing in downtown Seattle believed to be self-defense

By Sara Jean Green
After reviewing the Seattle police investigation into a fatal stabbing downtown that killed a 33-year-old man Wednesday night, prosecutors declined to file charges against the man’s alleged killer, who apparently acted in self-defense.

“This is believed to be self-defense and there’s not a crime prosecutors believe can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt because of the self-defense claim,” Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the King County prosecuting attorney’s office, said Friday.

Seattle police arrested a 58-year-old man for investigation of homicide early Thursday in connection with the stabbing but he was expected to be released from the King County Jail without going before a judge for a probable cause hearing, according to McNerthney and jail records.

The King County medical examiner’s office identified the 33-year-old man as Michael David Hansen and determined he died from a stab wound to the chest.

According to a police report provided by prosecutors, the 58-year-old man called 911 a little after 10 p.m. Wednesday and reported he had been struck in the face with a gun and stabbed his assailant in response. At the same time, another 911 caller reported finding a man down in an alleyway at the Westlake Park plaza in the 400 block of Pine Street. The caller thought the man had suffered an overdose and started CPR until Seattle firefighters arrived at the scene and determined he had been stabbed in the chest, the report says.

The 58-year-old man was taken to Seattle police headquarters, where he told detectives he was at his vehicle, parked on Pike Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues, when a man approached him, pressed a gun to his neck and demanded he hand over his money, according to the report.

He at first thought it was a friend playing a joke, but turned and saw the alleged would-be robber, whom he recognized as someone who sold clothing on Third Avenue and from whom he had previously bought leggings, the report says. The 58-year-old said the other man, who was wearing a black mask and a dark hood, had been watching him as he made purchases on Third earlier in the day, according to the report.

As the man continued to point a gun at him, the 58-year-old told detectives he reached into his car and grabbed a folding pocketknife from the cup holder, the report says. He said he was struck in the head and knocked to the ground before he got up and swung at the other man, stabbing him three times, according to the report, which notes officers didn’t find a mask or gun and didn’t observe any bruising, swelling or redness on the 58-year-old’s face.

Officers did not find any witnesses and video evidence was pending at the time the report was written, it says. The 58-year-old, who was reportedly living out of his car, had more than $2,800 on his person when he was taken into custody, the report says.

According to McNerthney, police are still investigating whether anyone else was involved in the attempted robbery of the 58-year-old.

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Seattle Times

Not a knife to a gun fight, the victim fought back with what he had and prevailed. Thanks, Gun Bunny. Hat tip to David for the gun pR0n.

Every right is married to a duty; every freedom owes a corresponding responsibility; and there cannot be genuine freedom unless there exists also genuine order, in the moral realm and in the social realm.
Russell Kirk

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