One of the police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a knife-wielding transient, Charles Hill, at the Civic Center BART station is looking to switch jobs and work for the FBI.

BART officer James Crowell has been hired by the federal bureau and plans to join them soon, according to his attorney, Harry Stern.

“There is no reason to believe that this completely justified use of force would impede that transfer,” Stern said in an email to the Examiner.

Stern confirmed he is representing both Crowell and Myron Lee, the other BART officer in the case.

BART spokesman Linton Johnson would not confirm the officers’ names only saying they would be released after the investigation into the shooting is complete. Previously, BART officials have said one of the officers had worked for the agency for 18 months and the other had been on the force six years.  

On July 3, Crowell and Lee  responded to reports of a wobbly drunk on the platform around 9:45 p.m.

A video released by the BART administration last week shows the officers exiting a San Francisco/Millbrae bound train and 25 seconds later shooting Hill. He had a knife with a 4-inch blade and was approaching officers “menacingly,” according to BART police Chief Kenton Rainey. The video shows a knife flying through the air towards one of the BART cops,  but it missed him.

Hill was also said to be carrying a glass alcohol bottle, which he allegedly threw at the officers.

Neither Hill nor Lee appears on the video released by BART officials.

Rainey has said he believed the officers reacted properly because they felt “in danger or that serious bodily injury could occur.”

The incident is being investigated by the San Francisco Police Department, San Francisco District Attorney’s office, BART Internal Affairs and an independent police auditor.

akoskey@sfexaminer.com