Police-shooting victim 'struggled with a lot of things'

John T. Williams, who was fatally shot by a Seattle police officer after being ordered to drop a knife, often had difficulty hearing and understanding what was said to him, say people who knew him. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012784234_copshooting02m.html By Lynda V. Mapes Seattle Times staff reporter A man fatally shot by a Seattle police officer after being ordered to drop a knife often had difficulty hearing and understanding what was said to him, say people who knew him. John T. Williams, 50, was killed by Officer Ian Birk Monday afternoon. Birk saw Williams with a knife and repeatedly ordered him to drop it just before the shooting, police said. Williams, it turned out, was a First Nations totem carver and chronic inebriate who had told people he was deaf in one ear, say those who knew him. He also could be so drunk he wouldn't understand what people were saying to him. Police said Wednesday that they are looking into reports that Williams may have been hard of hearing. ttp://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012784234_copshooting02m.html