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."
About 350 spectators crowded the courtroom at the coroner's inquest at the King County Superior Court. This photo shows part of the crowd, as well as the Ward family attorneys Lem Howell, seated at right at table, and James E. McGiver.
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. "Coroner's inquest recessed after dramatic interruption," Seattle Times, May 23, 1970, p. 4.
