West Seattle Crime Watch: Gunfire, crash near 10th/Roxbury

Seattlite June 4, 2016 (2:53 pm)

Mr. Mayor please get control of your city. If you cannot do the job, then please turn it over to a leader who can keep this city safe. Too many shootings and too many innocent victims are in the areas of the shootings.

Kevin June 4, 2016 (5:06 pm)

What would that even do? How would a new mayor solve anything? What exactly would a new mayor do that can’t be done by the current?
- Seattlite June 4, 2016 (5:38 pm)
  
  That’s just it, Kevin, what is Ed doing to control gang activity, illegal guns, drugs, prostitution? Yesterday I saw about 20 SPD bicyclists at Alki which was a very good thing. However, areas in WS and other Seattle areas are becoming shooting galleries which is extremely dangerous to innocent bystanders.

Citizen June 4, 2016 (3:09 pm)

So sick and tired of these shootings in West Seattle. It’s sad to see how normal its become to hear about these shootings every week. It’ll only get worse if nothing gets done to change what’s happening around here..

shannon June 4, 2016 (3:19 pm)

I can’t wait to get out of this area!

Jake Dimmock June 4, 2016 (3:21 pm)

I witnessed this shooting today. Two cars racing down the street and one guy in the passenger side was shooting out the window. …Seattkeite; what to yo want the mayor to do?

Perhaps he can ask all aeattlites to turn in their guns?

Better learn to duck!

Amy June 4, 2016 (3:33 pm)

Isn’t 10th and Roxbury technically White Center? And just curious, but is it still unincorporated?… And if so isn’t it considered a free for all?

WSB June 4, 2016 (3:50 pm)

The south side of Roxbury and southward is White Center. The north side and northward is south Highland Park. This investigation is on both sides of the line and that’s why both SPD and KCSO are involved. And no, no place is a “free for all.” This FWIW is a few blocks east of 15th/Roxbury, which is the more common nexus of trouble (and was the site of the gunfire incident we reported yesterday).
- Amy June 4, 2016 (4:48 pm)
  
  Is white center still unincorporated and if it is would it make a difference to incorporate it? I never did totally understand why it was unincorporated.
  - WSB June 4, 2016 (4:57 pm)
    
    Yes, White Center is part of unincorporated King County, as is Top Hat and the rest of the remaining unincorporated North Highline area that rejected annexation by Burien four years ago (there are also two pockets of unincorporated area closer to South Park that are part of a different potential-annexation process).
    
    Seattle is currently in the early stages of possibly seeking an annexation vote, which could go to residents of the unincorporated area next year or 2018. (See our “annexation” archives on White Center Now for incremental coverage.)
    
    Next step is a hearing before the King County Boundary Review Board that’s a little more than a week away; then the City Council would have to decide whether to formally put it on the ballot for the residents of the unincorporated area to vote on. Under state law/guidelines/policies, urban areas, of which White Center is considered to be one, are supposed to be part of cities. By most accounts, WC does not have the resources it would take to become a city all its own, so it eventually has to join up with somebody. At the moment, Seattle is the only option, because Burien has formally said it doesn’t want this area any more. So it’s not clear at all what’s eventually going to happen …

MGG June 4, 2016 (3:55 pm)

The Seattle Police and the King County Sheriff’s Office cooperate closely in policing of the White Center area. They typically respond, jointly, within less than 2 minutes to anything called into 911. After living in downtown Seattle, I can say that this area gets a more rapid police response and saturated police presence within a couple minutes of anything called in than we ever got in the downtown area.

Marvin June 5, 2016 (1:34 am)

Two minutes? Jointly? …..Ah, really?
- MGG June 6, 2016 (12:47 pm)
  
  marvin. Literally, 2 minutes. I heard the gunshots, then the car crashes, I ran upstairs to see if I could see into the street, called 911 as soon as I could grab my phone, and before I finished dialing, four police cars and a sheriff’s car showed up on the scene in front of my eyes. Actually, less than 2 minutes.
  - Marvin June 7, 2016 (1:44 am)
    
    ….And this is a “typical’ response time?

AMD June 4, 2016 (4:17 pm)

That accident doesn’t look good. Hope everyone is okay.

EROMariner June 4, 2016 (4:22 pm)

Idiots. Can’t help stupid. Even if “we” spend more $$ on police, life means very little to some. Life is not a game.

Cherable June 4, 2016 (4:52 pm)

WSB please note: The south side of Roxbury is unincorporated King County. The north side of Roxbury is City of Seattle. White Center and Highland Park are neighborhoods, not official designations.

thee June 4, 2016 (5:06 pm)

I was in my truck at the corner of 15th and Rox when this went down. I heard the popping and knew it was gunshots. I ducked, hoping my engine block would stop a stray round. I heard them pass and peaked up to see a banger hanging out the window spraying bullets everywhere. He reloaded and started spraying again, weaving between lanes at 70 mph.

There were families shopping, kids eating ice cream, dudes chatting on the corner, people waiting for the bus, me sitting at the light in my pickup. It was horrible and scary. Who would do that? Why?

I hope the shooters die in a fire.

–thee

julie98106 June 5, 2016 (8:17 am)

I am so sorry, and I agree with you.

John Murphy June 4, 2016 (5:46 pm)

Well, if it prevents SLU brogrammers from coming this way and gentrifying white center, look on the bright side… the statistical probability of collateral damage is less than you would think and occasional gunfights keep our taxes low.

Seattlite June 4, 2016 (7:21 pm)

Wow…so you think that if someone is killed by a stray bullet in WC it will keep anyone who wants to improve WC away . Gunfights or any other type of gang activity in a residential area where there are children is unacceptable. Your logic is very skewed.
- AJP June 4, 2016 (9:07 pm)
  
  He’s being sarcastic.

WC Original June 4, 2016 (5:55 pm)

White Center is actually exponentially better than when I was growing up here! This use to be an every day occurrence…

Ozzy June 4, 2016 (6:20 pm)

My friend was hit in her car four times and the bullets missed her just barely. Her car is totaled and she is very tramatized. This is not OK. One man was arrested but the shooter fled. Anyone with pics please get them to police.

Alki Resident June 4, 2016 (6:34 pm)

Cameras need to be installed NOW. Innocent people are going to get killed and there will be no evidence or suspects. This has become a war zone and its getting very scary. Enough is enough.

Saturday June 4, 2016 (7:40 pm)

This was so scary.

My family & I were driving on Roxbury & 11th Ave heading toward the 509 off Meyers Way when this happened. I heard a loud pop sound, it was from behind & once the cars came speeding by, with one guy hanging out the window shooting at the car in front, I couldn’t believe it. They were weaving in & out of oncoming traffic, then hit an oncoming car. The drivers both got out & the shooter was chasing the other guy.

As I called 911 police were already getting to the scene.

It’s so scary & tragic how they put so many innocent people in harms way. I pray that all the innocent bystanders and people in cars driving in either direction are safe and that the car that got hit, the people are ok.

dsa June 4, 2016 (8:05 pm)

You can have your guns. I want my cameras. Stick um up mayor. Don’t listen to the nay sayers.

SSS June 4, 2016 (8:14 pm)

We were at the light at 15th and Roxbury. We heard the 3 shots then the cars flew past us. Having never heard gunfire that was my first thought but my husband thought it was the cars backfiring because they just started going fast. I watched them weave in and out of traffic including the oncoming lane via my mirrors. Thinking they are going to cause a huge accident. Few minutes later we heard sirens. I knew exactly why. I’m tired of reading about all these gunfire incidents.

wsres June 4, 2016 (9:03 pm)

I am favor of cameras!! I have nothing to hide, why would anyone be against cameras to keep us safer?

Bill Brewer June 4, 2016 (10:10 pm)

I distinctly heard 8 shots fired within a block or two of my house at 2:53 AM this morning. My neighbors also heard the shots. It may have come from the North Delridge area or north of the gym on SW Andover.

wetone June 4, 2016 (10:22 pm)

Anyone that thinks cameras will help do some research on the matter. Will be of little help. Many of these people commiting these crimes are already known, it’s a broken system that is at fault along with a lost seattle mayor and wa governor that have allowed things to get worse. Until we get a system that arrest and prosecute per current laws expect things to get worse. Washington state and especially king county area are easy pickings for all involved in criminal activity and they have little concern about cameras.

Got Shorty June 5, 2016 (1:39 am)

What research? And of what little help to do you mean? Just curious is all….

Steve June 4, 2016 (11:04 pm)

It is only going to get worse with the current pathetic governmental makeup whether it is the council, mayor Eddie, or Dow! Wasting time and money on pronto bikes, work shifts, and gun shot locators! How about hiring more police! Elections have consequences and Seattle and King County are suffering as a result.

Seattlite June 5, 2016 (8:51 am)

Steve — I agree with your comment. I will add that hiring more police is a good thing but the DOJ’s current policies are keeping the police nation-wide from doing their jobs of keeping citizens safe and alive. So no matter how many extra police are hired they can only do so much under the current DOJ’s policies.
- East Coast Cynic June 5, 2016 (4:45 pm)
  
  @Seattllite, I think the DOJ for the most part wants the police, nationwide, to stop shooting unarmed citizens and to stop beating people that don’t initiate a physical threat.
  
  That being said, spending by the city on more police to serve in heavily crime infested areas would help quite a bit.
- Andy June 6, 2016 (5:16 am)
  
  You are so correct about that. It’s too bad more people don’t get it. We neuter the police and now West Seattle is paying the price.
AMD June 5, 2016 (1:13 pm)

SPD has been trying to hire more officers for quite some time. They can’t just will qualified people into existence. The qualified people need to apply for the job.

I also just want to mention that there are reports of higher violent crime rates in major cities across the country, not just in Seattle. Yes, it’s bad. Yes, we need to figure out how to reverse the trend. But I’d caution against putting so much energy towards blaming one or two highly visible people. Our local politicians aren’t creating national crime trends by putting some of their energy towards housing and employment equality.

dsa June 4, 2016 (11:16 pm)

I’m all for changing out the mayor and governor and getting a little help with cameras.

Seattlite June 5, 2016 (8:52 am)

Totally agree!

Chuck June 4, 2016 (11:31 pm)

Thank you, Wetone. Finally, a voice of reason.

EROMariner June 5, 2016 (12:24 am)

WC ORIGINAL JUNE 4, 2016 (5:55 PM)

REPLY

White Center is actually exponentially better than when I was growing up here! This use to be an every day occurrence…

You obviously are not from “here”. I’ve lived here WC/WS for over 45 years. , n this type of thing did not happen back in the 70’s-90’s. nearly as much as is does now.

Don June 5, 2016 (5:46 am)

Let’s call these people what they are…Losers!

They risked all those lives for what? Some stupid gang affiliation? Disrespect? A few bucks?

Society need to rid itself of these losers…put them in jail and throw away the keys… After all they essentially are willing to kill innocent people for no reason…

I believe in the rule of western law, but a case like this is perfect for sharia law… Just cut this a-holes hands off and he won’t be able to shoot anyone ever again and we tax payers won’t have to foot the bill for prison.

Doom on him, the driver and all scum like him!

Neighbor June 5, 2016 (9:17 am)

We need more police officers. We have one of the lowest cops to citizen ratio for a city our size in the country. We need them in our neighborhoods walking the beats. Not only would the help cops gain a little breathing space mentally but it will begin to change this tide of violence. Where are the mayor and the Chief of police? If this had been QA there would be immediate action and reckoning.

Darryll June 5, 2016 (10:45 am)

If KCSO and SPD are incapable of handling these idiots, then we should start framing this BS for real results. Someone randomly spraying bullets in a business district. Sounds like terrorism to me and it should be dealt with accordingly. Why are there no federal agents on this?

Shaoleung June 5, 2016 (11:38 am)

This goes far deeper than the number of police officers we have. The crazies don’t slow down or drop their vendettas because of the police to resident ratios. We have to do something about the problem. The same one that left two young men dead on Highland Parkway or the guy in Greenbridge dying in the middle of the street. More and more people are feeling so hopeless about their options and future… And angry about it. We need to reach out more. Volunteer in our community and build relationships with the people around us. If you know the people around you, they’ll start givingg a crap about you/us.

While these young punks would’ve still pulled their guns if there were a couple more police in the area… They may have thought twice if they felt connected to the community.

Andy June 6, 2016 (5:41 am)

They would have thought twice had they been treated like the terrorists they are. Instead, the city do gooders attack the police and sic the DOJ on the SPD. This is not a perfect world, and it doesn’t make it better when we make excuses for criminals to resist arrest and fight with the arresting officers. Too many brain washed citizens seem to support what, to me, amounts to anarchy. Arrest these yahoos and let them take it to court if they think their rights have been abused.
- JC June 6, 2016 (11:01 am)
  
  I agree with you Andy. Seems our police have their hands tied behind their backs because their own city leaders won’t support them.
- julie98106 June 7, 2016 (7:36 am)
  
  Thank you Andy, JC, and those of you that have been paying attention.

Chuck June 5, 2016 (4:58 pm)

Neighbor and Shaoleung: you’re both right. But.. Given that you likely can’t reach a 25 yo gang banger with “community,” I’d sure like to see more cops on the beat while outreach to the youth ramps up. And also, videos aren’t EVER going to get it done.

Sam_c June 5, 2016 (6:22 pm)

So has there been any follow-up from SPD on what transpired?

WSB June 5, 2016 (6:31 pm)

I’ll be pursuing the report tomorrow but at this point I’m wondering whether it’ll be an SPD report or KCSO report – Tweets by Beat don’t have anything and that’s where I usually get the incident # – so I’ll be asking both agencies.

Melissa June 5, 2016 (6:37 pm)

WSB thanks for your coverage of this.

JBspeech June 5, 2016 (6:57 pm)

Surprised there’s not one comment questioning the legal ownership of the guns involved. Do we believe the guns were legally owned and licensed by the shooter(s)? Two of my friends were injured in the resulting car accident–car totaled, physical and psychological trauma, lives disrupted, hurt. We need to vote OUT those who will not stand up to the NRA.

Thanks for reading,

Andy June 6, 2016 (6:13 am)

As a life long member of the NRA, JBspeech, I can assure you the NRA does not support the criminal use of guns. What I do support is throwing the book at those who criminally put citizens at risk.

dsa June 5, 2016 (7:42 pm)

Does it matter if they were legally owned? It seems they (or it) were likely unlawfully discharged.

Steve June 5, 2016 (8:03 pm)

Hopefully the west seattleites are growing tired of this current governmental makeup who are allowing west Seattle to get dumped on to include the rampant crappy “density” development to the lack of police! Vote them out! If not you get what you deserve!

Tired Of Violent solutions June 5, 2016 (8:21 pm)

The driver of the gold car that had a passenger that was firing, even after the crash occurred, was not arrested. I’m not sure he was even cited. No insurance by the way. Just, buh-bye.

Double Dub Resident June 6, 2016 (4:32 am)

So are you saying for a fact that the driver was caught? You saw this? You heard he had no insurance and was let go?

Eric1 June 5, 2016 (9:16 pm)

If the driver or passenger wasn’t arrested, that is exactly what is wrong with the system. Even if the passenger ran off, it isn’t like the driver is innocent. Jail them until they turn in the passenger. No insurance = forced labor until you pay the bill. So tired of law abiding citizens getting the shaft. These guys have nothing to lose so why would you expect them to behave? The only place for them that keeps us safe is keeping them in jail but that isn’t going to happen in this city. I guess I just need to purchase an armored limo.

.

LOL I looked up armored limo on e-bay and the amusing thing is that I would be the envy of the gangsters. Escalades, Chrysler 300’s and older Caddys… ewww…. I’ll take my chances with a vehicle I don’t mind being seen in.

Seattlite June 5, 2016 (11:56 pm)

Isn’t the driver complicit in the criminal activity? Calling Ed to do something to keep innocent bystanders from being injured or killed by the madness on King County streets.

they June 6, 2016 (5:21 am)

Yea, catching these losers doesn’t seem to be the problem so spending hard working family’s tax dollars on cameras would be irresponsible. Now the simple thing to do would be to keep these losers once we catch them but for some reason this concept falls on deaf ears.

Chuck June 6, 2016 (11:16 am)

@JBSPEECH: Just scratching my head over your comment. Legal ownership of a gun is not the same as lawful use of the weapon. I’m not going back through this whole thread to see where it was stated that the perp legally owned the gun, but big deal if they did! They still used a legal gun in a criminal act. As Andy states, the NRA would want this moron penalized to the full extent of the law. Because that’s what this is about: enough laws are in place. It is the responsibility of our judicial system to enforce them, and that is one biggest issues we face as a society. Heck, if that driver truly walked (uninsured at that), then I really am worried for the state of our current law enforcement.

WSB June 6, 2016 (11:43 am)

Before everyone gets too spun out on this … while I would not want to cast doubt on anyone who reported witnessing this, please note that we have yet to obtain the incident report. So we have no hard facts as to who did what, whether anyone was or wasn’t detained/arrested/etc., whether any gun was found, let alone whether it was legally or illegally owned, etc. … As of this writing, in fact, I haven’t even yet gotten confirmation of whether the report was taken by KCSO, SPD, or both – since the incident happened literally on the city-county line and as our photos show, both SPD and KCSO (Burien PD is part of that agency) responded – but am continuing to pursue, as promised. – Tracy
- Ozzy June 6, 2016 (8:56 pm)
  
  The detective in charge visited my friend today and asked me to post the following:
  
  “if anyone saw or heard anything call the King County tipline at: 206-263-2090. Please report any information you know: type, make, model, license of cars involved, who was chasing who, did they see anyone firing, etc. If the gold car had a passenger doing the shooting”.
  - WSB June 6, 2016 (9:09 pm)
    
    Thanks. I’m hoping to have the report tomorrow – the KCSO media sgt. had to reach the detective, who apparently was out in the field. Don’t suppose you have an incident/report #? KCSO doesn’t have a system like SPD that publishes most such numbers…

LB June 6, 2016 (4:34 pm)

*sarcasm intended*

Can these gun firing low lives please take some target lessons, perhaps gang night at the local range, maybe this way they could save some bullets, hit the intended target and save innocent bystanders lives, injury, and trauma. Not to mention property damage, et all. I am truly sick reading about nearly daily gunfire, which will only increase as summer moves forward.

In all seriousness, I am Canadian and gun violence was not something I grew up with, yes, I know how to safely and properly use a gun but do not own one. As a former bank teller I had a gun in my face, twice (!) And was less scared than I am by these random jerks firing anywhere and anytime. I used to only worry about going out at night, but I passed this scene shortly after the gunfire and accident…it was 3 in the afternoon!!