Man dies from police gunfire in Auburn

Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting that killed a man Friday night at an apartment complex in the 800 block of Pike Street Northeast.

Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting that killed a man Friday night at an apartment complex in the 800 block of Pike Street Northeast.

On Monday the King County Medical Examiner identified the dead man as Travis Lell, 64, and his cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds. Lell was a tenant of the complex.

According to Auburn Police Cmdr. Steve Stocker, the unnamed officer has been with the department for one year. The Valley Investigation Team, which is composed of two-to-three detectives from each police agency in South King County, excluding Auburn, is investigating.

Police responded to a malicious mischief call just before 9 p.m., reporting that a man had been breaking windows in a parking lot.

According to police, the officer was investigating the call when a white man, possibly in his 60s and believed to be the suspect, approached with some type of weapon that posed a threat to the officer. The officer drew his service pistol and fired. Lell died at the scene.

The officer who shot Lell was not hurt.

Following procedure standard to officer-involved shootings, the Auburn Police Department has placed the unnamed officer on administrative leave while the investigation continues.