( CNN ) -- The city of Seattle will pay $ 1.5 million to the family of a man who was fatally shot by a police officer last year . A Seattle police officer shot and killed John T. Williams , described as belonging to a First Nations Tribe , on August 30 . Williams , a woodcarver , was seen on video crossing a street holding his carving knife . When he did n't drop it , the officer shot him . The American Civil Liberties Union said it was unclear whether Williams , who was partially deaf , heard the order . The Seattle Police Department ruled the shooting unjustified . The officer , Ian Birk , resigned . Last month , the Justice Department launched a federal investigation of the police department for possible excessive use of force and discriminatory policing . Although the Seattle Police Department has been plagued by several reports of improper arrests and unwarranted beatings that led to a preliminary review , federal officials insisted the probe was not triggered by any specific incidents or allegations . Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Tom Perez and the U.S. attorney in Seattle , Jenny Durkan , emphasized the investigation is civil , not criminal . They said rather than seeking to resolve any specific cases , the `` pattern or practice '' investigation will focus on Seattle police systems of enforcement and on policy changes that may need to be made . Perez said the probe will be much narrower than a similar investigation of the New Orleans Police Department , but noted Seattle and New Orleans have both fully cooperated with federal authorities . The officials stressed that neither the federal preliminary review nor the full `` pattern or practice '' investigation announced Thursday had been triggered by a letter from the ACLU and more than 30 civil rights groups calling for a full-blown investigation . Perez said the preliminary review had started when the Justice Department received the letter in early December . In addition to the fatal shooting of Williams , that letter cited five alleged incidents of particular concern that the ACLU claims require a wide-ranging investigation : . -- June 11 2009 : An African-American man being released from jail was tackled , kicked in the face and beaten with a baton by three officers , according to the ACLU letter . -- April 17 , 2010 : Police stopped a Latino man they believed might be a robbery suspect . Video shows that while the man was lying on the sidewalk , an officer kicked him in the face and threatened to beat him . Another officer then stepped on his legs , the letter says . -- April 24 , 2010 : One of the same officers involved in that incident arrested a young man after a bar fight . The man was handcuffed , placed in the back of a patrol car , where , he claims , the officer repeatedly choked him , the civil rights groups allege . -- June 14 , 2010 : A police officer saw young people jaywalking and confronted a teenage African-American girl . The letter says video of the incident shows that after she put her hands on him , the officer punched the girl in the face . -- October 18 , 2010 : A convenience store camera shows an African-American teenager with his hands in the air being kicked by a police officer , causing him to fall to the ground . After he was kicked several more times , the teenager was handcuffed by a second officer , according to the letter .
The woodcarver was crossing a street with a knife . The officer shoots him when he does n't drop the knife . ACLU : It is unclear whether the partially deaf man heard the order . The Justice Department has launched a federal probe of the department .