A 38-year-old man, Mohamed Morray Bangura, has been charged with assault after a violent encounter at Bellevue Transit Center, where he is accused of stabbing a Bellevue police officer. According to KOMO News, Bangura was charged last Monday by the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office with first-degree assault with a deadly weapon enhancement and second-degree assault with a deadly weapon enhancement.
The charges stem from an apparent ruse in which Bangura allegedly made a false 911 call to draw the officers to the site. He is purported to have attacked them shortly after they arrived, which led one officer to discharge his weapon. Fox News Digital reports that Bangura, after briefly conversing with officers about a fake situation, suddenly produced a knife and proceeded to seriously injure one officer.
The Bellevue officer who was stabbed, later identified as Officer Sean Winebrenner, sustained a six-inch facial laceration, a dislocated shoulder, and a broken clavicle. His colleague, who was not injured, fired six shots, hitting Bangura thrice. This information is according to charging documents acquired by KING 5. Following the incident, both Officer Winebrenner and Bangura were taken to Harborview Medical Center; Winebrenner has since been discharged, while Bangura remained in serious condition as of the last report.
There had been previous encounters between Bangura and Bellevue police. Documents say in September, Bangura was found sleeping on a church property, leading to a confrontation with a security guard and subsequent police involvement. "Instead of letting that complaint process play out," the prosecuting attorney's office noted, Bangura "arm himself with a knife and assault two other innocent, unwitting officers who thought they were responding to a call of domestic violence," as KOMO News described the situation. Bangura had previously filed a complaint against an officer the day before the stabbing, alleging that the officer had placed a false case against him.
The incident has raised concerns about the dangers officers face when responding to emergency calls and the consequences of when personal grievances are targeted at law enforcement. The court has set Bangura's bail at $5 million, reflecting the serious nature of the charges against him. The case continues to unfold as the Bellevue Police Department and the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office work through the process and recovery also begin for the injured Officer Winebrenner.
