On May 15, 1970, a Seattle police officer shot and killed Larry Eugene Ward (1947-1970) as he fled from police after attempting to light a bomb fuse at Hardcastle Realty at 23rd Avenue and Union Street in the Central Area. Police were alerted to the attempt by the FBI, who had been watching the property, expecting Black Panther involvement in the bombing. Ward was a Vietnam veteran, wounded in combat, and had been out of the U.S. Army for two months; he had been recruited for this job by a police informant only shortly before. A coroner's inquest, characterized by protests and disruptions, heard evidence on the shooting and handed down a non-unanimous verdict of "death by criminal means."

On May 19, about 125 people rallied at Garfield High School and marched to City Hall, where a delegation of six Black men presented demands to the mayor. They asked that the policemen involved be immediately suspended and charged with first degree murder, and that half of the inquest jury be picked by the Black community. Larry Gossett, shown here at the front of the march, with his head turned away, was among the delegation that met with the Mayor.

Caption information source: "Police shoot and kill Larry Ward while he sets a bomb in Seattle's Central area" by David Wilma, HistoryLink.org Essay 2435.
Caption information source: "Black Demand Ouster of Policemen," Seattle Times, May 19, 1970, p.11