West Seattle, Washington
03 Saturday
8:30 PM: For those asking about the big police response along Delridge Way just south on SW Thistle – police were dealing with what was logged as a person-in-crisis situation at an apartment complex. The man at the heart of it was armed. He’s been taken into custody and police recovered the gun. He’ll be taken to Harborview for a mental-health evaluation, according to emergency radio.
ADDED FRIDAY AFTERNOON: From the SPD summary of the incident:
At (6:44 pm), Officers responded to a crisis call located at the 8400 BLK of Delridge Wy SW. The details of the call indicated that there was a male in crisis with a firearm saying that he can see clowns and ninjas and that he wanted to hurt them. Officers arrived and contacted the subject on the phone. Officers contained the apartment building. The subject was initially inside of his apartment, but he decided to exit and continuously knock on his neighbor’s door. The subject damaged his apartment windows. Officers also contacted the complainant to determine if a crime was committed. … The subject eventually came outside, and he was placed in handcuffs. Officers recovered three BB guns that looked like real firearms. The subject was transported to the hospital on an (Involuntary Treatment Act commitment).
6:07 PM: Seattle Fire is sending a “scenes of violence” response to the Westwood area for a report that a woman has been stabbed. SFD is staging near 30th/Trenton but police are also responding to a scene on Cloverdale, and have a possible suspect detained.
6:12 PM: We don’t yet know exactly where it happened; circumstances sound relatively chaotic. Police are also checking on a report of a fight near the 26th/Trenton RV encampment.
(Added: WSB photos)
6:23 PM: Our crew reports a woman being treated on Trenton and is headed over to the 24th/Cloverdale scene where a man is reported to have a stab wound to the knee. No life-threatening wounds reported; the weapon is described as scissors. The circumstances now are being referred to as “domestic violence.”
6:33 PM: That’s also what a police sergeant tells us at the scene, adding that the man in custody, suspected of attacking the injured woman, is the man with a leg wound.
ADDED: SFD said both were in stable condition when taken to Harborview; the man is 26, the woman 24.
Another major event this week – the first community meeting with police at the Southwest Precinct since March (here’s our coverage of that one). Officers from the precinct have attended neighborhood-group meetings during that time, but Wednesday (September 11) will bring the first meeting to be held under the Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Council banner since March. The “council” is really just whoever shows up, rather than an official organization (which it used to be, years ago). The meeting is being organized by the precinct’s Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Satterwhite. She says they’ll be held quarterly. This time, the guest speakers are District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka and Southwest Precinct leadership (the precinct has changed commanders since last meeting, now led by Capt. Krista Bair). All are welcome; start time is 6:30 pm Wednesday in the community room, which is right off the parking lot on the south side of the building at 2300 SW Webster.
7:32 PM: If you’ve been noticing the police report on California south of The Junction – here’s how it’s played out over police radio: First there was a report of a man “covered in blood” with a possible stab wound near California/Lander. Police couldn’t find anyone. Then reoprts started coming in about a man “covered in blood” possibly carrying a pistol, in The Junction, Police have just caught up with a man who they believe is the person reported in both calls – and they say he’s covered in feces, not blood. They have taken him into custody at California/Dawson, though it’s not clear if any crime has been committed – one witness is reported to have told police the man dropped “the gun” near where police caught up with him.
7:37 PM: Our photographer says police at the scene (by Rite Aid) confirm the aforementioned circumstances. No gun found so far. What happens to him next, we haven’t yet heard.
11:54 PM: We only have a fraction of the story on this so far, but several people have asked, so we’re reporting what we’ve heard at this point: Police were called to North Admiral shortly after 11 pm for what the dispatcher initially said sounded like an attempted carjacking. Two areas about two blocks apart have been mentioned – the 1900 block of 44th SW and the 4300 block of SW Holgate. One juvenile suspect was being detained at the scene; someone else was reported to have gotten away in a black Honda, last seen headed west on Holgate. Somewhere in all this, there was gunfire. No one was treated at the scene, but police asked dispatchers to alert local hospitals in case anyone showed up with a gunshot wound. The juvenile suspect is in custody. That’s all we know so far.
2:06 AM: Going into the audio archives from early in this incident – the shots were reported fired by someone “in defense of” the victims, fired as the vehicle left the scene “with seven or eight suspects” inside. That person was still at the scene talking with police (after setting down his gun at their request).
ADDED 1:14 AM SUNDAY: Just received the police summary:
The incident occurred at (11:05 pm Friday) in the 4300 BLK of SW Holgate St. The owner of a vehicle came outside her house and saw four to five suspects inside her vehicle. The suspects were attempting to steal the vehicle. She notified her uncle and friend about the incident. The suspects exited the vehicle, but one of them left his cell phone inside the victim’s vehicle. The uncle grabbed the cell phone from inside the car and threw it on the ground. One of the suspects charged the uncle and he was afraid of being assaulted. The friend of the family fired a warning shot and two more shots at the suspects’ vehicle. The suspects fled the scene. The suspects left one juvenile behind who was arrested and booked at [the juvenile detention center] for attempted/auto theft. The firearm was recovered and submitted to evidence. … The male who shot at the suspects was investigated & released at the scene.
Teja is looking for help finding the hit-run driver who killed their dog:
On Friday (23rd) at 9.45 pm, a red car traveling pretty fast hit and killed our little dog and did not stop.
Not much of an image, however, I was able to screen shot this from our neighbors’ CCTV. It’s all I was able to find unfortunately. Anyone with CCTV on Delridge Way SW (near the Chevron and the other two gas stations down the road), would most certainly have captured something as I’m sure the car would have travelled up the road. Car was going south along Delridge Way SW (toward the Chevron gas station) and actual point of the road where the hit happened was outside of 6527 Delridge Way SW.
If you have any information – and/or video – that might help, the SPD incident number is 24-238482.
Got questions for/about local police/crime/safety? Two events are ahead in West Seattle.
Wednesday Update: Canceled. HOPS WITH THE COPS: This was just announced today – a drop-in event Wednesday, September 4, at Elliott Bay Brewing in The Junction, though SPD‘s flyer clarifies that the officers will not be imbibing:
As noted, the Seattle Police Foundation – a non-governmental nonprofit that supports the department – is picking up the tab for the bites. Elliott Bay is an all-ages venue.
SOUTHWEST PRECINCT CRIME PREVENTION MEETING: As previously announced, the SW Precinct Crime Prevention Council – which has no fixed membership, just whoever shows up – meets on Wednesday, September 11, 6:30 pm at the precinct (2300 SW Webster). In addition to crime updates from the precinct command staff, District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka is scheduled to speak. These meetings are a prime time to bring questions about anything from specific incidents to trends.
Three more Crime Watch reports:
SKYLARK BURGLARY: The music venue/restaurant/bar at the north end of Delridge was broken into again on Sunday, proprietor Matt Larson tells WSB:
We were hit…again. Suspect pulled into the parking lot at 6:37 AM Sunday morning. He checked out the front then went to the back, where he used a crowbar to open the back door.
He entered and removed both cash tills and their enclosures, then exited and left within a few minutes. There was $700 worth of equipment and cash stolen as well as damage to the cables and the door, which might have to be replaced (we just had to replace the front door a few months back when they broke in and got into our ATM – good times).
The truck is rather unique and has been seen around West Seattle so hopefully somebody is familiar with it, or at least can be aware of it. If anybody sees some dumped tills – let us know!
The temporary police-report # is T00008584.
Meantime, SPD posted two 2-week-old case summaries on SPD Blotter late today – neither was previously on our radar so here they are, for the record:
MAIL-THEFT ARREST: SPD says this began with 911 calls just before 1 am on August 7 reporting a ski-masked man breaking into mailboxes in the 7900 block of 35th SW – eventually, they say, with seven victims. They found a 28-year-old man nearby, saying he “was in possession of multiple pieces of evidence, including stolen mail, suspected stolen bank cards, a metal pry bar, and he was concealing a loaded firearm. The man had an expired Concealed Pistol License and was prohibited from carrying the firearm in that manner. The Beretta APX 9mm semi-automatic handgun was seized as evidence.” He was booked into jail. We won’t be able to check on his status until tomorrow, as we don’t know his name and this was released too late in the day for us to check with prosecutors.
BURGLARY-ATTEMPT ARREST: This too happened early the morning of August 7, according to the SPD Blotter post. Around 2 am, police were checked out reports of possible gunfire in the 9400 block of Delridge Way SW. They found the shooting scene was a block south, in unincorporated King County. They found a shell casing and a blood trail. Then they got a report of an attempted burglary at a house in the 8800 block of 16th SW and arrested a 32-year-old man nearby. He was carrying a 9mm handgun that police say was linked to the shooting scene in unincorporated King County (and also linked to a homicide victim in Federal Way). He too was booked into jail, and we hope to find out his status, and that of the case against him, tomorrow.
Police checking out reports of possible gunfire have found confirmation of it. They have found “bullet damage to a street sign” and a “bullet fragment” at 29th and Kenyon. 911 got at least three calls – and we got a text – hearing what was described as “rapid gunshots … followed by a single shot,” just before 11:30 pm. No report of injuries.
1:53 PM: Just issued a few minutes ago:
(poster removed after confirmation that missing man was found)
10:20 PM: Per emergency radio, the missing man has been found in a ditch behind his house and SFD has been sent to help get him out. We don’t know his condition but will check with SFD later.
ADDED TUESDAY: SFD tells us the 77-year-old man was in stable condition when their medics checked him out and did not need to be taken to a hospital.
We’ve received some questions about an emergency response at a residential building in the 6300 block of California SW, coded “scenes of violence.” This was for a person with what are believed to be self-inflicted wounds. He’s being taken to a hospital.
For those contemplating self-harm, the 988 crisis hotline is available 24 hours a day.
The photo above is from a texter who says they walked past that vehicle at Fauntleroy and Myrtle this morning around 7 am and that it was still running. We then heard from Aaron, who sent this report and other photos:
I’m writing on behalf of a couple neighbors at Myrtle and Fauntleroy across the street from Gatewood Elementary.
According to the neighbors, a stolen car hit the electrical pole in front of their house and then drove through their fence before being abandoned earlier this morning.
SPD has been through but I don’t have the police report number. Seattle City Light will come later today to replace the pole.
Aaron says the neighbors reported this happened in the 6 am hour. We haven’t found the police-report number or dispatch audio yet but will add any other available info when we do.
Thanks for the tips about SWAT units in Morgan Junction. Police have SW Morgan blocked right now between 40th and 42nd. All they’ll tell us is that it’s a warrant situation.
8:30 AM: The street has reopened.
(Photo sent by Cindi Barker)
Four days until this year’s Night Out, celebrating community collaboration and safety coast-to-coast. If you’ve registered your Night Out party, Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Satterwhite has swag for you, available for pickup (updated) 9:30-11:30 am and 2:30 to 4:30 pm Monday (August 5) at the precinct (2300 SW Webster). She’s at right in the photo, with Seattle U interns Rafail Markodimitrakis and Kierra Lee, as they got ready this morning.
(Added: Photo sent by Jennifer Satterwhite)
They’re offering crime-prevention info handouts and goodie bags for kids. If you didn’t get signed up by last Sunday’s deadline, but you’re still having a Night Out party, they might have some extra materials available Monday too.
(Reader photo, via text)
Several readers asked about a big law-enforcement response at Roxbury Safeway early this evening. On Seattle Police radio, we heard SPD officers sent to back up King County Sheriff’s Office deputies who were “fighting with a suspect,” but the response was called off fairly quickly, as the suspect was reported to have been taken into custody. We just got information from KCSO on what led to this – spokesperson Det. Michael Ramirez says it was dispatched just after 5 pm as a “possible robbery in progress.” Arriving deputies wound up in “a brief struggle” with the suspect, he says, before they were able to make an arrest. Det. Ramirez adds that no injuries were reported and the suspect was taken to King County Jail to be booked for investigation of robbery.
ADDED WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Bail was set today at $10,000 for the suspect, who is 33. He does not appear to have a felony record, though the docket lists many misdemeanor cases in various jurisdictions.
Early Friday, we reported on a single-vehicle crash in the 3800 block of West Marginal Way SW. Firefighters cut open the car – reported to have been “wrapped around a tree” – to get two people out. According to the King County Medical Examiner‘s latest list of death investigations, the driver did not survive. He is identified as 20-year-old Brian U. Nambo Perez. We don’t know the current condition of the other person rescued from the wreckage, a woman reported to be in her 20s, but she was initially described as less gravely injured.
(Reader photo)
ORIGINAL SUNDAY REPORT: Lots of questions about a sizable police response in Admiral around 8 am. Officers were gone by the time we were able to get to the area but incident audio indicates the initial report was a possible robbery inside an apartment building in the 2100 block of California SW. The victim – reported to be a delivery driver – arranged to meet police near Admiral/42nd, so that’s why people saw officers there too. There was one report that the alleged robber may have brandished an “AR-pattern rifle,” so that’s why some texters saw police with long guns out at one point, and there was also a report he might have been associated with a unit inside the building. Police were still trying to sort out what actually happened, so we will follow up, but a final incident summary won’t be accessible before tomorrow.
ADDED 2:30 PM MONDAY: Here’s what police provided in response to our inquiry:
On July 28, Seattle police responded to the 2100 block of California Avenue Southwest for the report of an armed robbery at an apartment building. The incident happened just before 8 a.m. Officers found the victim, a 38-year-old man, in the 4100 block of Southwest Admiral Way. He told Seattle police he was making a grocery order delivery when a man appeared near the building’s stairs with a rifle and told him to drop the delivery. The victim reported the suspect threatened him and told him to leave while pointing the gun at him. The victim pleaded with the suspect not to fire the rifle, dropped the groceries, and ran to the corner of 44th Avenue Southwest and Southwest College Street to call for help. The suspect was described as a white man in his mid-30s, approximately 5’10” tall, with short black hair and a black beard, wearing plaid pajama pants and a sweater. No arrest has been made at this time.
(WSB photo)
3:01 PM: Thanks for the tips. Police are investigating the discovery of a dead person on the beach in Fauntleroy, in a residential area south of the ferry dock. Our photo was taken looking south from the dock; the person’s body was on the beach just to the right of the driftwood at the photo’s right edge. This is the same area where a search was under way early Wednesday morning after a report of someone splashing and calling for help. Despite searches by sea and, later in the day, by air, no one was found at that time. We’re following up with police and will add anything more we find out.
3:49 PM: SPD spokesperson Officer Brian Pritchard says the call originally came in as an unclothed man dead on the beach, and that’s what police confirmed upon arrival. He says there’s no sign of foul play, though it’ll be up to the Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death.
(Photo sent by Leif)
They do believe this is the same person who was the subject of the Wednesday morning search, because of the clothing found on a small swimming dock (as mentioned in our previous story).
We’ve obtained more information from Seattle Police as they continue investigating the Sunday shooting in Lincoln Park.
(WSB photo, Sunday)
As we first reported Sunday morning, the shooting sent a 27-year-old man to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the hip. Police initially told us he was shot by someone trying to break up a domestic-violence assault, and today they’ve provided more details:
They say the assault, involving a man and pregnant woman who are in a relationship, began in a car in the Lincoln Park north lot. The woman escaped from the car and ran into the park asking for help. The 30-year-old man who helped her “shielded and protected the woman as the suspect advanced on them,” according to SPD spokesperson Officer Eric Muñoz, who continued, “The man shot the suspect once in the hip while protecting himself and the DV victim.” Police recovered the gun and one fired shell casing. They say the assault suspect was not armed. He remains in the hospital for medical treatment but is under arrest for second-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment. The man who shot him “was initially placed under arrest while officers investigated,” Officer Muñoz said, adding: “After being transported to SPD Headquarters and interviewed by detectives, he was released from police custody.” As we noted in our Sunday report, that man is an SPD lieutenant’s son; SPD says the lieutenant was not involved in the incident. The woman who was assaulted was taken to a hospital in stable condition but police have no current information on her condition. SPD says this case has been assigned to detectives with the Domestic Violence Unit.
11:18 AM: For those noticing the large police response across from the north side of Westwood Village, here’s what’s happening: Officers are in a standoff with a man suspected in a reported domestic-violence incident. No injuries and no road closures so far; the suspect is reported to be inside an apartment at the Westwood Court complex, refusing to come out and talk with police.
12:29 PM: The suspect is in custody, per police radio. SFD is being called in to check him out.
12:35 PM: Our photographer happened to be heading back to the scene when that happened; he’s just arrived and confirmed with police that the suspect is under arrest and they’re searching the apartment now that he’s out of it.
3:24 PM: We asked police for their initial summary of the incident – here’s what they sent:
On July 9th at 10:07 a.m., a juvenile called 911 to report that his grandfather threatened to kill his grandmother with a machete. Officers responded to residence near Southwest Trenton Street & 25th Avenue Southwest. As Officers arrived, the suspect allowed the victim and juvenile to exit the residence, but he quickly barricaded himself inside and refused to come out. Police safety containment was established, and the Hostage Negotiation Team, Special Weapons & Tactics (SWAT) team, and Community Service Officers arrived on scene to assist Patrol.
Police developed probable cause to arrest the suspect for Investigation of Domestic Violence (DV) Harassment. While the primary Officer worked on the search warrant, the suspect managed to rappel from his third-story balcony to the space below. The suspect attempted to flee on foot, but he was apprehended by Police. Officers served the warrant to retrieve the weapons/evidence. The juvenile and victim suffered no injuries and were transported to the Southwest Precinct where the CSOs provided them with food and resources.
We’re now exactly month away from this year’s Night Out block parties around Seattle (and the rest of the country). August 6 is the date this year, and you can sign up to close your (non-arterial) street to vehicle traffic that night – SPD has a registration link here. Hundreds are already signed up around the city; you can choose whether or not to have yours on the map. Deadline to register for street-closure permission is July 28.
(WSB photo)
1:07 PM: Thanks for the tips. A man was found dead this morning on a bench at Junction Plaza Park. SFD was dispatched just after 11:30 am and verified that the man had died; police responded to the scene too. We don’t yet know anything about the circumstances of his death or the discovery of his body, but we’re not seeing any indication of a crime investigation. Official determination of the cause of death will be up to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office (whose crew has arrived to take away the man’s body – that’s their van in our photo above).
4:24 PM: SFD says the man was in his early 50s.
ADDED TUESDAY AFTERNOON: According to the KCMEO, he was 52, and died of an unintentional overdose: “Acute drug intoxication including methamphetamine.”
(Added: Traffic camera screengrab, 10:30 am)
10:21 AM: Thanks for the tips. Avoid the Delridge/Brandon vicinity – major police response reported per readers, including SWAT. Both directions of Delridge are blocked. Metro says RapidRide H Line is routed off Delridge between Genesee and Orchard. We’re headed that way to find out more.
10:39 AM: Our crew has just arrived in the area and reports that Delridge is blocked from Findlay to Brandon. … This is all focused on someone in a unit at Cottage Grove Commons.
10:46 AM: We don’t know yet what started all this but the person they’re after is described as wanted for felony harassment. Our crew at the scene reports the SWAT officers have used a flashbang and are making loudspeaker announcements asking the suspect to come out. A K9 team is standing by as well. (They have to warn the suspect about that as well.)
11:15 AM: A nearby resident tells us the suspect broke out one of his windows earlier today and started throwing stuff out onto the street.
11:21 AM: Now, our crew reports, the PA announcements are telling the suspect he’s under arrest (once in custody) for property damage and resisting arrest. Again, street blocked and buses diverted in the area.
11:37 AM: After deploying “O.C. gas,” they have reported that the suspect is in custody, and they’re bringing in SFD to check him out.
11:45 AM: Next step, they’re searching the unit. He was reported to have been hitting things (including his door) with a “metal pipe.”
12:06 PM: Delridge Way has reopened.
2:28 PM: We asked police for details; they say this started at 6:23 am, when a 911 caller said the suspect had threatened someone with a “large metal pole.” He subsequently “barricaded himself inside his apartment,” and that’s what eventually led to the large response. The pole was recovered when officers – who obtained a search warrant – searched his apartment after the arrest, SPD says. He’ll be booked into King County Jail.
7:11 PM: That process often takes a few hours, but the 39-year-old suspect is there now.
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