WASHINGTON, December 5 (RIA Novosti) – A man shot dead by police in the United States in a post-Thanksgiving incident has been identified by neighbors as a former Russian policeman, a local news site reported.
The shooting occurred in Seattle at a residential building for the elderly and disabled. Tracie Mohnkern, who lives in the complex, told the news site Capitol Hill Seattle that she had been dating the 51-year-old man since July and that the incident might have been sparked by a financial dispute as he often lent people money.
“He was a good guy,” Mohnkern told the site. “People always went to him for money.”
The fatal encounter occurred when police received a call at 4 a.m. on the Friday after Thanksgiving, stating that a man was threatening people in the building with a rifle.
Officers arrived and found a woman claiming that the suspect had tried to kill her, according to a police report cited by the news site on Wednesday.
The suspect is alleged to have fired his rifle once, prompting an officer to return fire, killing the man. The victim has not yet been named officially.
Mohnkern told Capitol Hill Seattle that she was not the woman in the report. She also said her boyfriend often drank, but was sober the night of the incident. Although he was also a resident of the building, he had refused to tell her the nature of his disability.
A neighbor told the news site that he was often seen tending the community garden.
“It was horrendous,” the neighbor said. “We’re all in shock.”
