Family mourns man who was shot by police after brandishing knife in LA Fitness
A family is mourning the loss of a man, who was shot and killed by Bellevue Police earlier this month.
On December 5th, witnesses on scene told KIRO 7 that Joseph Ejeh, 44, had been acting erratically and walked into the LA Fitness with a knife.
When police arrived, Joseph allegedly advanced toward an officer with the weapon in hand.
“I was shocked. And I was like, I don’t know they got the wrong person. It can be Joseph,” said Lillian Ejeh, Joseph’s sister.
Bellevue police tells KIRO 7 the officer shot Joseph multiple times. Officers gave first aid and CPR to Joseph before medics arrived, but he died at the scene.
“They shot him four times. He didn’t have a gun on him. Even if with a knife, he has to be really close to you with a knife,” Lillian said.
Lillian believes there had to be another way to handle this without killing her little brother.
“They didn’t use any taser, they didn’t try to talk him down, they didn’t shoot him somewhere maybe his arm or I don’t know, his legs,” she explained. “Four shots because he had a knife like, I think that was a little too much.”
Witnesses said Joseph seemed unstable at the time. Lillian said it seemed very unlike him.
“I just want to know the truth. And I don’t want him to be painted as something is not. It’s bad enough that he is gone. I just don’t want people to think that is who he was because it’s not true,” she said.
She told KIRO 7 Joseph immigrated to Seattle from Nigeria in 2016. He had been seeking new opportunities and a better life.
He didn’t have a heart for violence. That’s the that’s the weird part. There are some things he couldn’t watch because he just didn’t have the stomach for violence. For him to end like this. Just, I can’t explain it,” Lillian explained.
Whatever it was Joseph was going through, she was heartbroken it had to end like this.
“It’s painful. We’ll bury him. We’ll move on. But it’s just every day something comes up and you have to deal with it. And it’s just not enough that he’s gone,” she said.
The Bellevue officer who shot the man was placed on administrative leave.
The King County Independent Force Investigation Team is currently investigating.
