West Seattle, Washington
25 Wednesday
7:20 PM: Thanks for the tips. Police are investigating another case of car-to-car gunfire right now – they’ve found “rifle casings” at two scenes, both in High Point, one on SW Graham and one on SW Morgan (both at the intersections with Lanham). No victims reported so far. Police are blocking traffic on SW Graham at 34th and to the east of there. Updates to come.
7:29 PM: Now police are saying there’s only one scene with casings, Graham/Lanham. According to dispatch, differing descriptions of the cars involved. (added) They’re also checking Sylvan/Holly.
7:45 PM: Photos added of markers showing where casings were found. Our crew talked with some of the witnesses who say they saw gunfire from a white car, and that a red car might have been involved too.
ADDED FRIDAY MORNING: Police say this incident and the earlier one in Sunrise Heights might be related. Their summary of this one says, “Witnesses advised that a red sedan was following a white sedan from behind, heading Westbound on SW Graham St. Witnesses said occupants from both vehicles were firing shots. Officers located evidence of a shooting from Lanham Pl Sw and SW Graham St. Officers also found evidence of a shooting at the west side of the intersection of 35 Ave Sw/SW Graham St. Officers continued to canvas the area and found property damage on an unoccupied vehicle.” If you have any information, the SPD incident # is 22-106623.
(WSB photos)
4:45 PM: Thanks for the tips. Police are investigating gunfire reported this past half-hour in Sunrise Heights. Shell casings have been found. No victims reported so far. We’re at the scene and will be updating.
4:54 PM: The photo was taken at 32nd and Webster [map]; police tell us they found “several” casings. They also confirm no reports of anyone being hit/hurt. The only description information they have so far is that this may have involved a “red car and gold car.” They’re about to leave the scene.
5:04 PM: Or maybe not. Dispatch has just told officers someone just called in to report finding another casing, in the alley in the 3100 block of SW Webster.
ADDED FRIDAY MORNING: Police say it’s possible this incident and the later gunfire in High Point are related. Their summary says, “Witnesses advised that a red sedan was following a white sedan from behind, heading westbound on SW Webster St. Witnesses said an unknown suspect from the red sedan was firing shots toward the white sedan. After hearing the shots, other witnesses reported that a gold sedan was seen speeding away from the area.” If you have any information, the incident # is 22-106468.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes:
CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THEFT: Steve reports, “My 2004 Honda CR-V had the converter cut out sometime last night. It was parked in front of my house on 48th near Charlestown.”
CRISIS RESPONSE LEAVES OFFICER INJURED: We received multiple questions today about a sizable police response Thursday afternoon just north of Lincoln Park. So in case you wondered too – SPD says it started as a person-in-crisis call; while waiting for an ambulance to take the person to a hospital for evaluation, he “head-butted” and then kicked an officer – that’s why more backup was summoned. The officer was not seriously hurt.
(WSB file photo)
Next Tuesday morning, the City Council’s Public Safety and Human Services Committee is scheduled to get its quarterly update on Seattle Police staffing. The numbers in the presentation document that’s now available with the agenda online show that SPD now expects to hire fewer new officers this year than originally projected, 98 instead of 125. And a year-to-year comparison shows the staffing shortage is hitting our area the hardest. The precinct-by-precinct numbers show that the Southwest Precinct, which covers West Seattle and South Park, has lost the most sworn staff, in number as well as percentages. We compared the table in the 2021 first-quarter report with the table from the same period in 2022. Here’s 2021:
And here’s 2022:
Two precincts actually gained sworn staff – East and West – while North lost only 1. But South lost 6 and Southwest lost 7 – down to 58 sergeants and officers in our area, from 65 in the same period last year. Precinct supervisors have mentioned multiple times at community meetings we’ve covered that staffing is precariously low at times – at HPAC in January, for example, the group was told the precinct has been as low as 3 officers some nights, when the minimum per shift is supposed to be more than three times that. So why is the staffing pain so uneven? We’re asking.
Meantime, next Tuesday morning’s 9:30 am meeting of the committee, which West Seattle/South Park Councilmember Lisa Herbold chairs, includes a discussion of a proposal to bring back hiring incentives. The agenda includes information on how to watch, and comment at, the meeting.
9:51 PM: Thanks for the tips. Police and fire have Fauntleroy Way closed both ways at SW Graham. SFD has a low-level medical call logged for that area but we’re trying to find out what the police component is about. Avoid the area.
10 PM: So far what we’re learning is that it’s apparently a person-in-crisis situation involving a bleeding person, possibly from self-inflicted injuries, who was out in the street. Police have just checked inside a nearby residence that is somehow related to the situation and report it’s “clear.”
10:07 PM: Police have told dispatch that the person will be taken to Harborview via private ambulance, so this should be clearing soon.
10:23 PM: A nearby resident tells us police have just reopened the street both ways.
ADDED FRIDAY AFTERNOON: Here’s SPD’s preliminary summary report:
(At 9:13 pm), officers responded to a disturbance in the 6000 block of Fauntleroy Way SW with a male banging on vehicles as they drove down the road. Additional callers to 911 reported a known male in crisis who was experiencing a “mental break.” As officers arrived in the area, information was relayed that the involved subject was armed with a knife and had possibly stabbed themselves. The subject had been hiding in the bushes until officers were on scene and emerged to confront officers. This subject was covered in blood, still bleeding from numerous wounds, and refused commands to stop approaching officers. Officers engaged the potentially armed subject who was screaming, “Shoot me, I want to die!” and detained him following a Type II Use of Force. EMT-trained officers arrived on scene and provided medical aid to the subject for self-inflicted lacerations until Seattle Fire could arrive.
According to one witness, the “Type II Use of Force” was a Taser.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of self-harm, 206-461-3222 is a 24-hour hotline.
3:51 PM: Thanks for the tips. This scene on the west side of Fauntleroy Way just south of SW Edmunds was getting cleared when we got there, but here’s what police told us – they’re investigating (updated) a driver for distracted driving, possibly phone use. That driver is reported to have veered into and damaged two parked motorcycles and a parked car. No one was hurt.
6:08 PM: Here’s a texted photo of where the silver vehicle ended up, taken before the tow crew arrived:
It’s been more than a year and a half since Adrian Diaz became interim Seattle Police Chief. Today, Mayor Bruce Harrell outlined his plan for finding a permanent police chief, noting that Diaz is “encourage(d) … to apply.” The mayor’s announcement says Harrell will soon hire “an independent third-party firm to assist in identifying candidates nationwide.” He’ll also appoint a search committee “made up of local leaders including law enforcement experts, Community Police Commission members, and representatives from small businesses, communities of color, and other key voices.” Along with those steps, the mayor also promises a website “providing an overview of the search process” and an online survey where community members can “list what they are looking for in the next chief.” The announcement, which does not specify a timeline by which the mayor hopes to make a hire, also notes the city charter spells out some requirements including “a competitive examination … to identify the three finalists” as well as City Council confirmation.
Just back from checking out a sizable police response outside the Bank of America in Admiral. The situation was already wrapping up when we arrived. Police on scene told us it was a “person in crisis” situation – and the person in question was being taken to Harborview Medical Center via private (AMR) ambulance.
(WSB photos)
9:22 AM: Thanks for the tip. SW Roxbury is blocked at 16th by a large police/sheriff’s response. We are told at the scene that they are attempting to arrest “a person with a knife” who is outside the T-Mobile store at that intersection. The closure continues to the east. Updates to come.
9:30 AM: This is primarily a KCSO situation, although SPD is there too. Deputies tell us they had dealt with the suspect earlier and that he had threatened them with a knife, so that’s what preceded this standoff. 16th and Delridge are both blocked to the north of Roxbury. (added) Metro has rerouted the 120, 128, and 60, according to an alert.
9:42 AM: The man is now in custody. Our crew was still on scene and reports that the man moved toward a line of shielded deputies and was within Taser distance, so they used that weapon to subdue and arrest him. They tell us the streets should reopen in 15 to 30 minutes.
10:21 AM: As shown on the nearest traffic cam, the scene has cleared and the streets are open again. Metro has also sent an update that buses are back to their normal routes.
This month’s newsletter from Southwest Precinct crime-prevention coordinator Jennifer Danner goes beyond crime.
It’s worth saving in case you ever need to notify somebody about a wide variety of issues – if the embedded version above doesn’t work for you, here’s a PDF version.
Two reports tonight:
ASSAULT ARREST: We got a question about police and medics near 13th/Holden very early this morning, and a short police-report summary has the answer: At 3:42 am, officers were called for “an assault and theft” in the 1200 block of SW Holden. “While attempting to arrest the suspect, he kicked an officer in the jaw and shoulder,” the report says, adding that the suspect was taken into custody “after a struggle” and eventually booked for third-degree assault. We’ve requested more info about the case from police.
APPARENTLY ABANDONED CAR: With auto theft still at a high rate, we’re hearing about more sightings of what appear to be abandoned vehicles. Here’s one that’s been in a Seaview neighborhood for more than a month, according to Bill, who sent the photo as one last attempt to find its owner before calling it in:
The car also carries a 2008 parking sticker from Los Rios Community College in Sacramento, California.
Thanks to the texter who sent that photo with word that the Seattle Police Mounted Patrol had arrived on Alki. We were out photographing something else at the time and went right over to see if we could catch up with them; saw the empty truck and trailer, but couldn’t find the horses/officers. They’re often out for training/acclimation rides this time of year; the unit is based in West Seattle, on the west side of Westcrest Park. Citywide media reported that the unit got two new horses last fall.
Three reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:
(Added: WSB photo)
ATM THEFT ATTEMPT: Thanks to Bolo for the tip. The US Bank drive-up ATM in The Junction – stolen in an early-morning heist five years ago – was again the target of would-be thieves early Monday. We say “would-be” because they failed, according to the police-report narrative we obtained today. It says that US Bank corporate security reported the theft attempt was caught on video just before 3:30 am Monday. Two people drove up in a “small to midsize silver DUV with a gray/black bottom”, pried open a “plastic base plat” on the ATM, attached a cable from the truck, tried to pull the ATM off its base, but failed and left.
ROAD-RAGE GUNFIRE: This was reported just after noon on Saturday, according to this police summary made available today:
(The) reporting party (RP) reported a shooting that occurred at SW Avalon Way and SW Spokane St. This incident started as a road-rage disturbance at the large intersection of Delridge Way SW and SW Spokane St. The RP was driving eastbound on SW Spokane when the suspect’s vehicle was driving “aggressively” past multiple vehicles. The RP indicated the suspect vehicle nearly struck or may have slightly struck his vehicle after a merge in which the suspect cut him off. This enraged the RP, who merged in behind the suspect’s vehicle and began following him after honking and a mutual exchange of middle fingers (between himself and the suspect). At the intersection of 11th Ave SW and SW Spokane St, the suspect leaned out the driver-side window and fired approximately 4 times at the RP’s car. The suspect then quickly drove away, continuing eastbound on SW Spokane St up and onto the West Seattle Bridge, toward 1st Ave S/ 4th Ave S/ S Columbian Way and the I-5 North/South Interstate on ramps. The suspect’s vehicle was described only as a 4-door newer Lexus Sedan, black in color, with no other distinguishable or unique markings. The RP’s vehicle had what appeared to be new damage, consistent with bullet damage.
STOLEN VAN: West Seattle resident DMD says this happened near the airport, but is hoping neighbors here will be on the lookout for it too:
Flew out of Seattle for vacation. Van was stolen from the Seattle Airport Marriott parking lot between Feb 11-20 2022. It’s a 1998 Ford E-350 lifted four-wheel drive van. It is burgundy red with a large black winch bumper on the front. A case was opened with the police so any tips to me, them, or both are appreciated!
Call 911 if you see it – then let DMD know by texting 206-240-8993. (3/2 UPDATE: It’s been found, in north Seattle.)
Thanks for the tips/questions. We went over to check on a reported sizable police response on 35th SW across from Southwest Library, south of SW Henderson. Officers say it was a “person in crisis” situation at an apartment building, and they were arranging for the person in question to be transported to a hospital for mental-health help – that’s why, as shown in our photo, an ambulance responded too.
4:31 PM: Thanks to everyone who asked about the helicopter search in Highland Park. Guardian One was assisting Seattle Police with a search. We don’t know yet what incident it’s linked to, but we do know they just took someone into custody in the greenbelt over Highland Park Way/Riverview Playfield. More details when we get them.
5:09 PM: No official info from police yet, and we couldn’t find officers on the ground, but scanner traffic and another reader tip indicates it was related to a stolen car.
6:05 PM: Guardian One confirms via Twitter that the search was for a driver who fled a stolen car.
7:54 PM: Even more details, and a photo, from SPD:
Just after 3:00 p.m., a parkgoer reported a man asleep in a red pickup truck parked on a foot path in the greenbelt area of Riverview Park. When responding officers contacted the man, he fled on foot into the woods. Police quickly discovered the truck had been registered stolen earlier this week in North Seattle, and spotted a rifle in the back seat.
With the help of King County Sheriff’s Office helicopter Guardian One, SPD officers on the ground found the suspect hiding in the greenbelt and arrested him.
Police transported the 26-year-old man to King County Jail to book him for possession of a stolen car and unlawful possession of a firearm. It appears part of the rifle was still being constructed. Nevertheless, the suspect is a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing firearms. However, during the booking process at KCJ, the suspect deliberately punched a concrete pillar, causing injuries which required treatment at Harborview Medical Center. Officers plan to book the man into jail when he is medically cleared at the hospital.
In addition to the burglary covered here in a reader report Sunday, we noted two other “residential occupied burglary” calls logged over the weekend, so we requested the reports today. Both turned out to be attempted break-ins. Here’s what the report narratives said:
MARINE VIEW DRIVE: Just after 3:30 am Saturday, a 911 call came in from a house in the 10600 block of Marine View Drive SW. They reported someone trying their doors and opening their screen door. One of the residents confronted the would-be intruder, who said, “You know me,” though that was not the case. The man then went into the back yard and sat in the patio furniture for 10 minutes before leaving. While officers viewed security video and otherwise investigated at the house, a sergeant in the area spotted the suspect two blocks away. He gave police conflicting stories – that he thought it was his house, that he thought it was his daughter’s house, that he was trying to get help for his wife who was possibly overdosing in a car nearby. Police found a crashed car nearby, described as “stuck on a rock,” but no one was inside. They arrested the man, who ended up being taken to Harborview Medical Center for an unspecified problem rather than immediately to jail.
38TH SW: On Sunday morning, a 911 call came in from a residence in the 4800 block of 38th SW. The resident reported a man pounding on the windows and door, and grabbing the door handle. She believed he was trying to break in; she screamed at him to go away. All she could tell them regarding a description was that he was wearing a dark hat. He was gone before officers arrived, and they didn’t find anyone in the area, but they did find a duffel bag outside her house and took it as evidence.
One month after taking office, Mayor Bruce Harrell, his deputy mayors, and public-safety chiefs went before the media at midmorning today to promise action on violent crime that’s at its “highest level in 24 years.” You can watch the video above. For starters, Mayor Harrell said, he’s told Police Chief Adrian Diaz to “focus on those places where crime is concentrated, and on the relatively few individuals causing the most harm.” (He wouldn’t say exactly where “those places” are, at one point suggesting that locations could be deduced if you “read the blogs.”) He also acknowledged “inherit(ing) a depleted and demoralized police force,” now down 350 officers, and promised the remaining police he would support them providing they “perform (their) duties with honor and excellence.”
“We need more police,” declared Chief Diaz, also identifying gun violence as a particular problem. The mayor’s list of statistics included a 40 percent increase in shootings, with or without injuries. Chief Diaz said officers recovered 3,200+ shell casings recovered last year, in 600+ incidents.
That category of crime is affecting how firefighters do their work too, said Fire Chief Harold Scoggins. His department responded to more than 400 “scenes of violence” (weapon-involved injuries, not only guns) calls last year, up a third from 2020. They’ve had to change their policy on weapons incidents – now wearing “ballistic vests and helmets,” and staging 4 blocks away until assured the scene is secure. He also talked about the increase in SFD responses to encampments – this month averaging five fire responses and 33 medical responses a day. That’s in the context of an increased number of all service calls – 94,000+ last year, up from 80,000+ in 2020.
Public safety isn’t just about SPD and SFD, cautioned Senior Deputy Mayor Monisha Harrell, promising a “holistic” approach. She was followed by Tiffany Washington, Deputy Mayor for homelessness/housing issues, who also made the point that “the issues of homelessness and public safety are not one and the same.”
So what exactly are they doing? “We are building systems right now,” said Mayor Harrell, who said he and his team are working “feverishly” toward solutions. He promised more specifics to come. West Seattle/South Park City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, issued a statement of support afterward; you can see it here. In it, she also spotlights some of the public-safety alternatives the city is funding, which she detailed to the District 1 Community Network this week, as reported here.
(WSB photo, Friday night)
The man arrested early today, six and a half hours after taking over the Westwood Village Target, had been released from jail one week earlier, after a judge refused prosecutors’ request to set bail for a case in which he was accused of assaulting a police officer. Charges have since been filed in that January 13th case, and because of that, as well as his self-identification on social media during last night’s incident, we are publishing the defendant’s name, Timothy A. Clemans.
The 31-year-old Burien resident had an initial court hearing today, and a judge found probable cause to hold him for investigation of first-degree burglary. The document from today’s hearing details what police say happened before and during the standoff. First, they say, he called 911 to say he was going to take hostages somewhere in an hour because he’d been refused services at a hospital. He was on the phone with the 911 calltaker much of the way to what turned out to be the Target store, “talking about past crimes and the need for mental-health services.” After detailing what he told the 911 calltaker, the document then goes into how Target employees, including security staff, managed to get everyone out safely once he arrived and started declaring he was going to take hostages, after arming himself with a knife from a shelf at the store. One customer in a motorized wheelchair even came face to face with him, the document says, and told him to “get the f— away from me,” and he did. Security helped her get out of the store and soon it was empty, except for Clemans.
In the assault case earlier this month, court documents say he approached a police officer near 4th/Jackson downtown and said he needed “crisis services.” The officer said he needed a reason to arrange for that. Clemans then punched the officer in the eye. He was booked into jail, and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office asked a judge to set bail at $10,000, but the judge – not identified in documents – instead released him on personal recognizance. Four days later, prosecutors charged him with third-degree assault.
Prosecutors note that they have filed charges in every case involving Clemans that’s been referred to them by police or deputies. Earlier this month, they handled his sentencing for two King County Sheriff’s Office misdemeanor cases in District Court. Documents aren’t available so we don’t have details of those cases, but they apparently involved threats and “unlawful display of a weapon.” At the sentencing hearing on January 6th, he received a sentence that prosecutors say the file indicates “would have been satisfied with the time that he had already spent in jail.” The aforementioned officer-punching incident happened one week later.
He has two felony convictions since 2019. Three years ago, he showed up at the West Precinct downtown with a realistic-looking BB gun and attempted to provoke officers. That resulted in an assault conviction and a six-month sentence. Then in 2020, he was found guilty of felony harassment for another incident with a knife at a Target store, this time downtown, evacuated after he armed himself with a knife and demanded that police come kill him. He was sentenced to three months in jail.
Clemans has a different kind of history with SPD before the aforementioned incidents and others. In the mid-2010s he worked with the department on technology issues such as automation that could make it less labor-intensive for SPD to release records without violating privacy. We mentioned his work briefly in a few WSB stories, here and here.
WHAT’S NEXT: A judge will consider bail. It’s up to the KCPAO to file charges in this case, which require more documentation from SPD, but, spokesperson Casey McNerthney tells WSB, “We plan to act on it immediately if/when it’s referred to us.”
ORIGINAL SATURDAY REPORT: Another multi-hour “person in crisis” situation just concluded at California/Charlestown. We belatedly saw a reader note about a large police response there in the 7 am hour, didn’t hear anything further and thought we’d missed it – until we happened onto it while out on errands after noon. An ambulance was just pulling up; we pulled over and inquired. Police had been there five-plus hours trying to talk someone out of a car, they told us, and had just convinced him to come out. No other details; they were wrapping up the scene.
ADDED MONDAY: SPD’s preliminary summary report on this incident says police originally responded to this situation at 5:17 am, after a report that someone was threatening self-harm and refusing to leave. Police were there for a while and then left after the person, who was alone in an apartment, refused to come out. This was repeated multiple times over the ensuing hours – they got a call, returned, left. Finally, the person called and said they wanted to go to a hospital, so an ambulance was called and the person was transported for mental-health evaluation.
(WSB photo)
5:55 PM: Police are at Westwood Village dealing with a person in crisis at or near Target. No reports of injuries so far but avoid that side of the center.
6:19 PM: Police are still talking with the person, who is reported to have a knife. They confirmed to us at the scene that everyone else was able to leave the store and the person is the only one inside. He’s someone with whom police are familiar from other similar incidents.
7:20 PM: Not resolved yet.
8:37 PM: No change. Police report they’re in intermittent contact by phone. We went back over for a look; the east half of the center is not affected.
9:55 PM: Standoff continues, after four hours.
11:13 PM: Sixth hour now, no change.
12:22 AM: SWAT officers have taken the man into custody inside the store. They entered the store after negotiators had spent hours talking to him, off and on, by phone. No injuries reported so far but medics will be called to check him out, as officers used a Taser. We mentioned above that police are familiar with this man from other incidents; among them was this one almost exactly a year ago at the same store.
Eight months ago, the city’s Inspector General sent interim Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz a letter asking him to “partner with OIG to find ways to eliminate, or at least greatly reduce the practice of conducting traffic stops for civil violations or low-level, non-dangerous moving violations.” Inspector General Lisa Judge – whose duty is to “help ensure the fairness and integrity of the police system” – voiced concern about such stops resulting in “use of force or tragedy” and having “broader implications for public trust. Judge added that “a new framework is needed to address the historical inequities and inherent dangers in traffic stops. Without drilling down to underlying issues and root causes, police and community are
destined to continue the same cycle of traffic stops gone wrong.”
Working-group conversations ensued, as outlined in this followup Inspector Judge sent earlier this week, released this evening after Chief Diaz went public with his official reply, spelling out what SPD will “deprioritize.” Here’s the chief’s full letter; from SPD Blotter, an excerpt:
… the Seattle Police Department will no longer treat the following violations as primary reasons to engage in a traffic stop:
-Expired or missing vehicle registration. License tabs expired. (Title: License and plates required) – SMC 11.22.070
-Issues with the display of registration plates. No front license plate, a vehicle must have a rear license plate. (Title: Vehicle license plates displayed) – SMC II.22.080
-Technical violations of SMC 11 .84.140, such as items hanging from the rear-view mirror and cracks in the windshield. Actual visual obstruction, such as snow, fog, non-transparent material, or shattered windshields, will be enforced. (Title: Windshield obstruction) – SMC 11.84.140
-Bicycle helmet violations (KCHC 9.10)
(That rule is a King County matter, and a possible repeal remains under discussion.) In the response, Diaz notes that these violations can still be enforced – they just won’t be a sole reason for a traffic stop. He adds, “The group also recommended ceasing primary enforcement for all equipment violations. I support this recommendation in principle, but only if there are viable options to address the equipment violation. For pedestrian and driver safety, we cannot allow vehicles with safety equipment issues to just remain in that status. SPD is working with others to identify a way for individuals to get safety equipment issues fixed, even when they cannot afford to do so.”
(Added: WSB photo, police @ robbery scene)
8:23 PM: Police have converged on the Origins cannabis store in The Junction to investigate a report the store was held up at gunpoint. Here’s what we’re hearing from officers and dispatch: The store was robbed by three men in their 20s, who got away with some merchandise and two registers. The early description information is that the robbers were Black, all thin-to-medium build, wearing face masks, one taller than 6′ and carrying what was described to police as an “Uzi,” another shorter than 6′, no clothing description so far. They were last seen headed westbound on Edmunds from 40th (the store is at that corner). A K9 team (from the King County Sheriff’s Office, as no SPD K9 team was available) is on the way to join the search.
8:30 PM: More detailed descriptions of two of the robbers – the one with the “Uzi” wore a blue coat, black beanie, and dark pants, and is about 6’2″ and slender; another about 5’6″ and 180 pounds, carrying a tan “Glock-type” gun, wearing a red hoodie and dark pants. Only one added detail for the third robber – wearing a “paintball mask.”
10:10 PM: No further updates since then; we’ll be requesting the report in the morning.
10 AM THURSDAY: Only one additional detail in the preliminary summary – that one description matched that of a suspect in a carjacking 20 minutes earlier near 35th/Morgan. W4’re requesting the report on that and will publish separately when we have details.
From the weekend Seattle Police log, a case described as “accidental gunfire” – no one was hurt, but two apartments and a business were damaged. Police were called to an apartment building in the 4700 block of 42nd SW just after noon Sunday to investigate. According to the report narrative, here’s what happened: A resident had bought himself a Colt .357 King Cobra pistol for Christmas. He was “in his living room, examining his pistol, taking out rounds and placing them back into the pistol with a speed loader. (He) intended to dry-fire his pistol to an adjacent wall, not realizing the pistol was still loaded, and fired.” The bullet went through the wall, into the apartment next door, through a closet at a business in the building, then “clipping a TV mounted on the outer wall,” finally stopping underneath a chair. The gun owner went to the building leasing office to report what happened, and from there 911 was called. The resident of the apartment next door wasn’t home at the time; her dog was there and wasn’t hurt. After talking with everyone involved and taking photos of the damage, police say they “spoke with (the gun owner) about the importance of firearm safety, which he said he understood.” He had placed the gun in a cabinet after the incident.
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