Man armed with AK-47 shot by police | 911

Police have shot a man who allegedly leveled an assault rifle at them on Friday night.

Acting Deputy Police Chief Nick Metz said a woman called 911 at approximately 8:45 p.m. and said she'd called a relative in West Seattle and heard a shot being fired in the background before the line went dead.

The woman said when she called back, a man answered the phone and made suicidal threats.

Police responded to the home in the 6100 block of SW Admiral Way and surrounded the structure.

Metz said they saw a man come out of the back door, then heard what sounded like gunshots. The man, who was armed with an AK-47, then leveled his weapon at the officers, prompting three officers to open fire.

The armed man was hit and transported to Harborview Medical Center with unknown injuries. His condition was not available.

Metz said in addition to the assault rifle, the man was also carrying a handgun. He is the 59-year-old resident of the home, police said.

The motive for the shooting has not been established, but neighbors said the man has a history of mental illness.

No officers were injured, and the investigation is ongoing.

The West Seattle incident was the fourth officer-involved shooting the Puget Sound area has seen this week.

On Monday, John T. Williams was fatally shot by police in downtown Seattle after refusing to drop a knife friends say he was using to whittle with. Williams' friends said he was a life-long wood carver.

An unidentified 23-year-old Tacoma man was fatally shot by police in Federal Way on Tuesday. Officers chased the man, whom they believed was a car thief, and opened fire when he backed his car in their direction.  

And on Friday afternoon, a man was shot dead by Tacoma police officers after failing to drop a knife he was holding. One witness said the man had been "stabbing cars" with the knife in a nearby parking lot in the minutes before the shooting.

Also this week, a 27-year-old man died after a Pierce County deputy used a Taser on him in Spanaway.