Shooting two armed would-be carjackers in downtown Seattle has earned kudos from hundreds of people, along with international attention from the Daily Mail, a publication based in the UK, with no sympathy at all for the two suspects who were still under police guard at the Harborview Medical Center.

It was a scene which might be expected in an action thriller, but not so much in the Northwest’s most far-left metropolis, which appears to have just elected a socialist female mayor. Self-defense advocates, firearms instructors and virtually every other legally-licensed citizen in the state—there are more than 711,000 of them in Washington, including more than 115,450 in King County, which encompasses Seattle—are watching this case closely to see how it unfolds, with many people fearing the 24-year-old good guy will face some kind of charge.

However, under Washington State’s use-of-force statutes, the would-be victim appears to have acted well within legal parameters. That will be up to the King County Prosecutor’s office, which historically has never made a wrong call on a self-defense shooting, regardless of local politics. AmmoLand News checked with the Prosecutor’s office, and so far, it appears they are waiting for paperwork from investigators.

By no small irony, this drama occurred just miles away from the national headquarters of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Located in the city of Bellevue, directly east of Seattle and on the opposite shore of Lake Washington, the CCRKBA keeps tabs on self-defense shootings.

According to KOMO News, the Seattle-based ABC affiliate, the incident unfolded at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday. The intended victim had parked his late-model Corvette on 1st Avenue and was approached by four masked suspects in a white sedan. Following a brief conversation, two of the suspects pulled guns and tried to steal the car. Instead, the would-be victim pulled his own legally-carried handgun and opened fire, hitting one suspect several times and wounding the second man, who fled with the other two suspects.

The seriously wounded suspect remained at the scene and was transported to Harborview after police arrived. The unidentified armed citizen also remained, was cooperating with police, and after being interviewed at police headquarters, he was released. Police kept his handgun as part of the investigation.

A short time later, the second wounded suspect was also dropped off at Harborview by the occupants of the white sedan, which fled before police arrived.

Back in May, another legally-armed citizen fatally shot a suspect who had opened fire on two individuals in downtown Seattle. That gunman turned out to be a 16-year-old. The two victims were wounded and taken to Harborview, as was the teen, who subsequently died.

The story quickly slid out of the spotlight at the Seattle Times, and there has not been much follow-up, except for a report at KING News, the local NBC affiliate, which said one of the suspected carjackers is only 14 years old.

According to the Seattle Police Blotter, the armed citizen was “fearing for his safety,” which led him to draw and fire.

At the KOMO website, more than 230 people have left comments to the story. There were no comments at the KIRO website, and neither KING nor the Seattle Times was accepting comments.

While the local media said the armed citizen was detained and that officers “recovered” his handgun, making it appear to some that he might be in trouble, this does not appear to be the actual situation. The Daily Mail said police “seized” his pistol. However, questioning someone who has legally defended himself/herself is standard procedure, as is taking a gun into evidence.

Washington has what many believe are solid self-defense/use-of-force statutes.

RCW 9A.16.110

Defending against violent crime—Reimbursement.

(1) No person in the state shall be placed in legal jeopardy of any kind whatsoever for protecting by any reasonable means necessary, himself or herself, his or her family, or his or her real or personal property, or for coming to the aid of another who is in imminent danger of or the victim of assault, robbery, kidnapping, arson, burglary, rape, murder, or any other violent crime as defined in RCW 9.94A.030.

(2) When a person charged with a crime listed in subsection (1) of this section is found not guilty by reason of self-defense, the state of Washington shall reimburse the defendant for all reasonable costs, including loss of time, legal fees incurred, and other expenses involved in his or her defense. This reimbursement is not an independent cause of action. To award these reasonable costs the trier of fact must find that the defendant’s claim of self-defense was sustained by a preponderance of the evidence. If the trier of fact makes a determination of self-defense, the judge shall determine the amount of the award.

(3) Notwithstanding a finding that a defendant’s actions were justified by self-defense, if the trier of fact also determines that the defendant was engaged in criminal conduct substantially related to the events giving rise to the charges filed against the defendant the judge may deny or reduce the amount of the award. In determining the amount of the award, the judge shall also consider the seriousness of the initial criminal conduct.

Nothing in this section precludes the legislature from using the sundry claims process to grant an award where none was granted under this section or to grant a higher award than one granted under this section.

(4) Whenever the issue of self-defense under this section is decided by a judge, the judge shall consider the same questions as must be answered in the special verdict under subsection (4) [(5)] of this section.

(5) Whenever the issue of self-defense under this section has been submitted to a jury, and the jury has found the defendant not guilty, the court shall instruct the jury to return a special verdict in substantially the following form:

RCW 9A.16.020

Use of force—When lawful.

The use, attempt, or offer to use force upon or toward the person of another is not unlawful in the following cases:

(1) Whenever necessarily used by a public officer in the performance of a legal duty, or a person assisting the officer and acting under the officer’s direction;

(2) Whenever necessarily used by a person arresting one who has committed a felony and delivering him or her to a public officer competent to receive him or her into custody;

(3) Whenever used by a party about to be injured, or by another lawfully aiding him or her, in preventing or attempting to prevent an offense against his or her person, or a malicious trespass, or other malicious interference with real or personal property lawfully in his or her possession, in case the force is not more than is necessary;

(4) Whenever reasonably used by a person to detain someone who enters or remains unlawfully in a building or on real property lawfully in the possession of such person, so long as such detention is reasonable in duration and manner to investigate the reason for the detained person’s presence on the premises, and so long as the premises in question did not reasonably appear to be intended to be open to members of the public;

(5) Whenever used by a carrier of passengers or the carrier’s authorized agent or servant, or other person assisting them at their request in expelling from a carriage, railway car, vessel, or other vehicle, a passenger who refuses to obey a lawful and reasonable regulation prescribed for the conduct of passengers, if such vehicle has first been stopped and the force used is not more than is necessary to expel the offender with reasonable regard to the offender’s personal safety;

(6) Whenever used by any person to prevent a mentally ill, mentally incompetent, or mentally disabled person from committing an act dangerous to any person, or in enforcing necessary restraint for the protection or restoration to health of the person, during such period only as is necessary to obtain legal authority for the restraint or custody of the person.

RCW 9A.16.050

Homicide—By other person—When justifiable.

Homicide is also justifiable when committed either:

(1) In the lawful defense of the slayer, or his or her husband, wife, parent, child, brother, or sister, or of any other person in his or her presence or company, when there is reasonable ground to apprehend a design on the part of the person slain to commit a felony or to do some great personal injury to the slayer or to any such person, and there is imminent danger of such design being accomplished; or

(2) In the actual resistance of an attempt to commit a felony upon the slayer, in his or her presence, or upon or in a dwelling, or other place of abode, in which he or she is.

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About Dave Workman

Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.