Casual talk ended in death
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Late on a sunny Thursday afternoon, across the street from a park full of children, a teen walked up to Nathan Powell and Tyrone Asphy and asked, "What's up?"
Asphy said the teen even shook his hand.
The only thing unusual was that the teen — later identified as Vandy Thevongsa, 17, of Seattle — had a gun.
A short time later, Thevongsa shot at Powell at nearly point-blank range, stole Powell's car and led police on a six-mile chase through Rainier Valley, firing shots along the way.
It all ended when Thevongsa was shot and killed by a Seattle police sharpshooter after a 40-minute standoff that began when the car Thevongsa had stolen ran out of gas at the Renton city limits.
At a news conference yesterday, Seattle Deputy Police Chief John Diaz said it was fortunate no one besides Thevongsa was hurt.
"Two or more officers could have been shot," Diaz said.
Thevongsa, who police say they know to be a gang member, had had several contacts with police before Thursday's shooting. Police wouldn't be more specific.
Powell, 22, narrowly escaped being shot in the abdomen. The bullet passed through his clothing and left a powder burn on his side, but nothing more.
"He tried to kill me," Powell said yesterday.
Powell's daughter, Jessica, 2, who had been in his arms minutes earlier, was put down on the ground before the shooting and was unhurt.
While Powell and Asphy said they had seen Thevongsa on the streets of South Seattle before, they knew little about him.
But they had no problem saying what they thought triggered the confrontation: "sherm," a marijuana cigarette laced with embalming fluid. The concoction, named for a brand of cigarettes, leads to a cheap and unpredictable high.
Asphy said Thevongsa's eyes were glassy.
"He was on some 'wet,' " said Powell, using another street name for sherm.
The incident began about 4 p.m. when Asphy was standing a few feet from Powell's car at 42nd Avenue South and South Kenny Street. He saw Thevongsa, with a gun at his side, walking down the street.
"I thought it was a water gun," Asphy said.
When Asphy asked about the gun, Thevongsa laughed it off and put it in a rear pocket.
But then Thevongsa got in Powell's car, pretending to drive it, and asked Asphy, "How do you like my new car?"
Powell, wondering out loud what Thevongsa was doing in his car, tried to take the keys from the ignition.
That's when Thevongsa's demeanor changed dramatically.
He looked up at Powell and said, " 'I'm going to smoke you,' " Asphy said. Thevongsa then pulled out the gun and shot at Powell from a few inches away.
Asphy saw Powell on the ground with Thevongsa pointing the gun at his head.
Asphy said Powell pleaded not to be shot. Thevongsa did not shoot, but jumped into Powell's car and drove off.
Police, who had been called a short time earlier by people who had seen a man with a gun, were soon on Thevongsa's trail as he drove south on Rainier Avenue South.
During the chase, Thevongsa fired and hit two police cars on their way to the scene of the original shooting.
The first car was hit while it was at Rainier Avenue South and South Graham Street. The second was hit about five blocks south, at South Holly Street. Both vehicles were struck in the driver's door.
Near Rainier and Holly, a police car hit a utility pole after the officer swerved to miss a car that had stopped abruptly in front of it when the officer put on her emergency lights, police said. The officer was slightly injured.
When Thevongsa's car ran out of gas just inside Renton, he continued to point the gun at police officers who surrounded the car, according to Capt. Brent Wingstrand. At one point, Thevongsa got out of the car and either danced or hopped around. At another point, Thevongsa lay down in the seat of the car and put his feet out a window.
Early in the confrontation, Officer Clayton Agate fired a shotgun, but no one was hit, Wingstrand said.
Police negotiators tried to persuade Thevongsa to put the gun down, but he refused, Wingstrand said.
Finally, when Thevongsa came around the car and pointed his gun in the direction of officer Steve Ward, Ward fired one round from an M-16 rifle, killing Thevongsa, Wingstrand said. Agate and Ward have been put on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.
This was the fourth fatal shooting by Seattle police in the past six months.