Auburn Police say Officer Jeff Lewis was in fear for his life and that of his civilian ride-along when he shot and killed a pipe-wielding man Sept. 9 in the darkness of a carport at an apartment complex in the 800 block of Pike Street Northeast.

Exactly what was agitating 64-year-old Travis Lell in the moments before his death remains a mystery.

“We do not know why this man approached Officer Lewis in such a threatening way, and we are saddened that it had to come to this conclusion,” Auburn Police Cmdr. Steve Stocker said in a press release issued last Friday.

The Valley Investigation Team, which is composed of detectives from several South King County Police Agencies — excluding Auburn — is investigating the incident.

Here’s what happened, according to police:

At 8:19 p.m., Sept. 9, Valley Cities received a call about a man who was, at that moment, taking a stick to the lights of a carport at the condominium complex at 810 Pike St. NE.

Officer Lewis was en route to the scene when dispatch informed him the man had left the complex northbound. When he arrived on scene, he could not find the suspect, so he left his patrol car to check things out.

According to police, Lewis was under a carport, looking at the damage, when a figure materialized from the darkness, “growling,” and uttering unintelligible sounds.

Lewis aimed his flashlight at the darkened carport, and it illuminated a man, who, according to police, had a large dagger holstered in a sheath on his belt and was holding a large metal pipe.

Although Officer Lewis ordered the man to stop and drop the pipe, police say, he kept coming on, pipe raised, as if he were going to swing it at Lewis.

When the suspect came within a step of Lewis, in defiance of repeated commands, the officer, fearing for his life and the life of his civilian rider, drew his weapon and fired three shots.

The man fell to the ground. Although Lewis immediately began administering first aid to him and called for medics, according to police, all three shots had hit him, and he died at the scene.

According to police, the solid, metal pipe that Lell had been holding was one inch in diameter, 3-feet-long and weighed 8.6 pounds.

“We are fortunate that Officer Lewis reacted very quickly, and we believe he acted appropriately under the circumstances, and very likely saved his own life as well as the life of the person who was riding with him,” Stocker said.

“It is important to keep in mind that at the time of the shooting,” Stocker added, “it was dark, and from the time the man appeared and approached Officer Lewis to the time the shots were fired was only seconds.”