Inquest: Seattle police shooting of pregnant woman justified

An inquest jury found Wednesday that two Seattle police officers were justified in fatally shooting a mentally unstable, pregnant, Black mother of four children inside her apartment when she menaced them with knives in 2017.

The six King County coroner’s inquest jurors unanimously determined that officers Jason Anderson and Steven McNew, who are white, had no reasonable alternative to using deadly force. The findings drew an angry outburst from Lyles’ father, who shouted profanities and yelled, “You killed my daughter!”

The officers testified that Lyles, who had threatened other officers with shears two weeks earlier and spoke of morphing into a wolf, had been calmly speaking with them after calling to report a purported burglary when she suddenly lunged at one with a knife.