UPDATE: Police response in Arbor Heights for person in crisis, resolved

| Arbor Heights | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

(Added 6:21 pm: WSB photos)

4:50 PM: Police are dealing with a possibly armed person in crisis at a residence in Arbor Heights, and as a result, they’re blocking off traffic, including SW 106th – we’re not sure exactly how far west of 35th, but avoid the general area.

5 PM: Our crew checking on the nearby road closures reports helicopter activity. First it was Guardian One, then a TV helicopter.

5:13 PM: We still have a crew in the area watching for word of a resolution to this. They and others are being kept at a distance. Again, SW 106th is blocked off for several blocks from 35th west.

5:19 PM: The person is reported to have come out of the house and is in custody. An ambulance is going in. That doesn’t mean anyone’s been hurt – usually in situations like this it’s so the person in crisis can be evaluated.

5:30 PM: The person who came out of the house is being placed in the ambulance.

5:40 PM: Our crew at the scene just talked to SW Precinct Lt. Alan Williams, who says they’re still sorting out exactly what started all this, but they hope to have the area opened up again shortly. A relative has been allowed into the house to make sure three dogs in there are safe, and police have been dealing with parents arriving to get their kids at a nearby day care that was being “held in place” until everything was resolved. They also are reported to have retrieved what was described as an inoperable .22 from the house. Again, no injuries reported to anyone in the situation. Police deal with things like this more often than you might realize; we’re reminded of an incident in Gatewood we covered just nine days ago, also resolved without injury.

clulessinws October 20, 2015 (4:59 pm)

Cops even coming from the Royal Brougham ST area. Had to move right on I 5 south.

Michelle October 20, 2015 (5:02 pm)

Yes, 106 blocked at 35 going West. helicopters circling.

Mo October 20, 2015 (5:03 pm)

Helicopter and multiple police vehicles in the area.

Jh October 20, 2015 (5:03 pm)

Hubby says KIRO chopper over our area

WSB October 20, 2015 (5:07 pm)

Yes, and the noise was interfering with police’s ability to communicate, per scanner. Guardian One had been there earlier and left, according to our ground crew.

Darren October 20, 2015 (5:06 pm)

There was a Kiro chopper circling above our house on 105th. Now gone

anonyme October 20, 2015 (5:06 pm)

I’ve seen at least 8 police vehicles, and helicopters arrived 10 minutes ago. Traffic is still flowing on 35th, however.

Kimmy October 20, 2015 (5:07 pm)

Thank you for the updates WSB. I can’t recall this many sirens in a couple of years–I live by the precinct.

~Hockeywitch~ October 20, 2015 (5:07 pm)

Holy police cars Batman! They have been coming up 35thand Ave like crazy…hope the person in crisis will be ok and this will end with everyone safe.

Lauren October 20, 2015 (5:08 pm)

The choppers need to get lost. How do news stations think that is in any way appropriate or helpful to circle over a person in crisis?

JO October 20, 2015 (5:14 pm)

106th blocked at both 39th and 35th. About 20 officers and multiple cars here. I hope it all turns out okay and whoever it is gets through this okay and gets the help they need. They are very nice people.

Darren October 20, 2015 (5:15 pm)

Is it still going on??

WSB October 20, 2015 (5:18 pm)

Darren, yes, according to our crew in the area.

k.h. October 20, 2015 (5:16 pm)

SWAT team van coming west across the w.s. bridge just now. Just passed 5 police cars, an ambulance, and the swat van.

WSB October 20, 2015 (5:19 pm)

Update: Per radio, the person is out of the house.

Tim October 20, 2015 (5:16 pm)

things have gotten quiet. update?

Christine October 20, 2015 (5:17 pm)

We just drove by 106th on our way to the bridge and no less than 5 cars and the SWAT team zoomed by. I hope this resolves peacefully.

Kimmy October 20, 2015 (5:17 pm)

I agree, Lauren. I feel the point of local (and hyperlocal) news is to bring us details with close contacts/communications to the event, this can be done, and has been done, without the interference and intrusion of helicopters. I have found WSB’s news and information is always more quickly reported and more accurate than the citywide stations, no choppers needed.

anonyme October 20, 2015 (5:17 pm)

Traffic is moving, but more ambulances just headed toward the target location.

Darren October 20, 2015 (5:22 pm)

What side of 106th is it??

Ryan October 20, 2015 (5:39 pm)

Any word on when they’ll reopen 106th?

WSB October 20, 2015 (5:41 pm)

Just a few minutes, according to what we just heard over the air.

Lauren October 20, 2015 (5:42 pm)

I asked the officer, he said it was a mentally ill person with a firearm, between 39th and about 41st off 106th Ave SW

Darren October 20, 2015 (5:51 pm)

Once again, job well done SPD!¡

Matthew October 20, 2015 (5:54 pm)

They are letting people through now.

tom October 20, 2015 (6:08 pm)

was there an age specified? I live nearby and would hate for it to be who I think it may be.

WSB October 20, 2015 (6:19 pm)

Tom – no. Our photographer guessed maybe in his 30s.

pkg October 20, 2015 (6:09 pm)

106th is open to traffic. Traffic between 35th & 39th is still a little slow. Police are still on seen.

Smitty October 20, 2015 (6:33 pm)

What the heck is a “person in crisis” and when did it make its way into our lexicon?

Sounds PC to me.

Claudia Haynes October 20, 2015 (6:45 pm)

We are the daycare and we could not have felt safer. The neighbors were wonderful and the kids were kept busy. When I asked the kids if they had any questions, 1 little one asked, “why do they call them cops? :) So glad that no-one was hurt and thank you to the SPD.

Lina October 20, 2015 (7:48 pm)

@Claudia Haynes we love you! Our little boy was at the daycare and it sounds like all the staff there were super professional and compassionate – would not have expected anything less. Thanks SPD and Claudia and staff!

Uncle Joe October 21, 2015 (2:16 am)

Smitty, A “person in crisis” is someone who is having a mental health issue and may be threatening to harm himself or others. English is an evolving language… try to keep up.

Compassionate October 21, 2015 (11:42 am)

Smitty, when I called 911 because a loved one was threatening to harm him/herself in my presence, I believe the code given was “person in crisis”. The police who responded used amazing skills to handle me and my children and respond to the immediate emergency with my loved one. They knew when they were arriving that the person in crisis may be threatening harm to self/others/police, and to respond in a calm and non-threatening manner, while ensuring the safety of all those around.

In our situation, when my loved one heard the sirens responding, their emotions increased even more because they knew that — at the end of the situation — they may be harmed, dead, or in an ambulance headed to harborview. S/he then barricaded self and refused to respond to police. Obviously, the police are not just going to go away in a situation like this, so they will either extract the person voluntarily or forcefully.

In our situation, police were incredibly patient and well-trained. After 45 minutes, they were able to get my loved one to open the door voluntarily.

I walked away from the situation very thankful for our local WS department and the well-trained officers. They all showed me incredibly compassion throughout the entire situation.

In situations where either are not well-trained or not as compassionate, these situations could end in “death by cop” — a terrible situation all around.

WSB October 21, 2015 (12:03 pm)

Thanks, Compassionate, glad your situation also was resolved without injury. Re: the original question about terminology – police use the phrase but in this case it’s the term I chose from the start of writing about this before our crew even got to the scene, because that’s all we knew – a person in some kind of crisis was in their house, possibly armed, possibly a danger to themselves and/or others. Sometimes the crisis is a suicidal threat (as with the Gatewood incident I linked to from a couple weeks ago), sometimes it’s a household situation (the SPD Blotter wrapup after this, linked in the story, suggests that’s how this started), sometimes it’s a mental-health crisis and a person is irrational, violent, threatening. “Crisis” describes it simply and perfectly, conveying the fact it’s something urgent and that’s why police are responding. Same with, for example, the guy in the middle of 35th a few weeks back – still don’t know exactly what he was agitated about but he was in crisis, which is also a civilian term (the Crisis Clinic is the hotline we refer people to, for example). It’s the type of training police are given to deal with non-crime-type urgent issues, too – Crisis Intervention Training. If a crime had been involved, the term “suspect” would have been appropriate, but that wasn’t what was going on; police sometimes use “subject,” but that is even more jargonistic. Situations involving people in crisis aren’t always newsworthy but when a major Arbor Heights intersection got blocked off for safety reasons, there was no question that this one was. – TR

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