WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Gunfire, arrests in east Junction

After hearing about possible gunfire and a car stopped in The Junction early today, we asked SPD for the report. Turns out they were in the process of publishing this summary via SPD Blotter:

Two teens were arrested early Friday after a patrol officer heard gunshots coming from a car on a West Seattle street.

Officer Carl Woodward was driving near Fauntleroy Way SW and SW Edmunds Street when he heard shots being fired from a black Dodge Avenger down the block.

The driver of the Dodge sped off, but the officer was able to follow and stop the car a block away.

Police detained the female driver and male passenger, both 17, who claimed not to have any weapons.

However, officers quickly spotted a gun on the floor of the car and arrested both teens for discharging a firearm. Officers also discovered the male suspect is a convicted felon, and unable to legally possess firearms.

Police weren’t able to find any victims or damage from the shooting, but recovered shell casings from where the teens had been parked at the time of the incident.

Both teens were booked into the King County Youth Service Center. The Dodge, which belongs to the female driver’s dad, was seized for gang detectives.

According to the reports we received, the stop was around 40th/Edmunds.

38 Replies to "WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Gunfire, arrests in east Junction"

  • S March 17, 2017 (11:12 am)

    They are old enough to be locked up in adult jail and should be. 

  • JanS March 17, 2017 (11:19 am)

    seriously? 17, and a convicted felon? I’m sure the girl’s dad is just thrilled to have his car seized by the gang unit. One of the WTF moments of the day, for sure. I turned 70 2 weeks ago..I don’t want to turn into a “get off my lawn” kinda person, but…definitely shaking my head here. These two sure did skip the line where they were handing out brains….sigh

  • Chuck March 17, 2017 (11:29 am)

    Fantastic job, SPD! While I want to cut some slack in the name of “youth,” this behavior is beyond ridiculous. The idiot shooter needs to head straight back to jail, and stay there. I mean, seriously? Already a convicted felon and not just possessing a gun, but doing a daytime, open air shooting? In the words of comedian Bill Engvall, “Here’s your sign.”

  • Swede. March 17, 2017 (11:34 am)

    Good work officer Woodward!

  • Eric1 March 17, 2017 (11:51 am)

    Wow. I am surprised. Felon on the streets of Seattle with a gun. I am sure he got the gun legally and paid his $25 + 10 cents for the ammo tax.

    .

    Such a lame criminal. However, he is at least consistent. Lame Dodge Avenger and a lame plastic Glock. Probably using cheap POS ammo too. No wonder why he didn’t hit anthing.

    .

    On a serious note. Thank you to the officer for doing their dangerous job. 

    • Jethro Marx March 17, 2017 (2:30 pm)

      Maybe, but gunfire on these city streets is a bummer, even if he was firing handloads from a Kimber and rolling in an Olds 442, what? I’m also kind of curious how the other commenter thinks sending them to adult jail will help; will it encourage them to commit fewer felonies in the future?

      • Eric1 March 17, 2017 (5:09 pm)

        LOL. I am more of a classic MOPAR guy so FWD Dodges draw my ire.  But if it were a 70’s ragtop 442, I’d have to give him points:)  

        .

        Alas, you both missed my sarcasm.  No 17 yo can legally buy a gun, so the city doesn’t collect its stupid tax since the law only works on law abiding citizens.  The loser is trying to look tough yet can’t hit anything. Kinda like when people in the 70’s thought they knew Kung-Fu and hit themselves in the head with Nun-Chucks.  Girl + Weapon + Idiot = tragedy waiting to happen. 

        .

        The police are free to choose what the city will issue. Given this city, they probably would issue tasers and bearskin hats if the clowncil and mayor had their way. But I will not harass the police, they do a fantastic job and the Glock is an excellent gun for a well trained person.

        • Double Dub Resident March 18, 2017 (7:28 am)

          I thought you said Glocks were lame plastic  guns? More specifically, Glock frames are made of polymer, so I suppose by that reasoning the S&W M&P series or the Springfield XD series are also lame plastic guns. 

          The reason the Seattle police use the Glock is because when they moved away from revolvers, they needed a semi automatic pistol that could take possible abuse and still remain reliable, not because they’re lame plastic guns. They’re certainly not fancy, but they are reliable

    • Double Dub Resident March 17, 2017 (4:06 pm)

      You know, Glocks are the standard issue for seattle police officers, right? 

  • vincent March 17, 2017 (12:24 pm)

    Good thing we still have a youth jail for these winners, in the future we might have to give them a stern talking to and a hug before cutting them loose.

  • Gatewood March 17, 2017 (12:28 pm)

    Thank you Officer Woodword!  The SW Precinct is the best!

  • Seattlite March 17, 2017 (12:33 pm)

    These two teens are too dangerous to be out on civilized streets.  Lock them up.  Great work SPD!

  • Ric March 17, 2017 (1:24 pm)

    But I’m sure they’re both really good kids.

  • WsEd March 17, 2017 (1:31 pm)

    Wow,

    17 and a felon.  I guess everyone has goals.

  • Paul Binder March 17, 2017 (1:35 pm)

    And the current administration is allowing for mentally challenged individuals to purchase guns…..  

    We need tougher gun laws in this country.  

    • Bill March 17, 2017 (2:00 pm)

      Hey Paul what about tougher gun laws for CRIMINALS.

      Good job officer Woodward!

      • Andy March 18, 2017 (7:37 am)

        Gee, Paul, your tougher gun laws idea is brilliant, except I’m wondering why so many criminals are better armed than I am. What tougher gun laws do you propose? We now have I-594 which was supposed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals like the two involved in this incident.

    • Safety Officer March 17, 2017 (2:48 pm)

      Well considering it is against the law for a 17 year old to carry a pistol, and against the law to be a felon in possession of a firearm I think we should be working on enforcing the laws we already have. 

    • Jon March 19, 2017 (12:57 am)

      This has nothing to do with the “current administration” rhetoric and everything to do with idiots doing idiotic things for idiotic reasons. And sadly, you can’t legislate that into the aether. Dumb people have and will always exist. Idiocy is apolitical.

      Put simply, it is illegal for a convicted felon to possess a firearm. It is also illegal for a 17-year-old to be able to purchase a handgun (let alone, carry one concealed). After passing an FBI NICS E-Check verification (and submitting yourself to a fingerprinting database, amongst other obtrusive things, in the event of acquiring a CPL), any lawful person may purchase a rifle at the age of 18 and a handgun at the age of 21 (there is also a mandatory five-day wait period on this one unless you are an approved CPL holder; in which case, you’re already on the books and have proven to the FBI to not be a threat and may walk out the door with your purchase).

      In either case, the person in question obtained and discharged this firearm illegally. The gun was likely stolen and/or purchased illegally. No laws can prevent the existence of the black market (study Prohibition and you’ll start to see how impossible it is to propose a “blanket ban” of sorts; basic supply and demand will always create a black market) and we already have many laws on the books in regards to the illegal sale and trafficking of firearms.

      Ergo, “tougher gun laws” will not have any sort of impact on black market (criminal) buyers and will only hurt your friendly, law-abiding, probably-more-educated-and-cautious-than-you-realize, gun-owning neighbors . The only things you can attempt are preventative education and better community self-policing. In fact, just about every gun law passed on the state and city level has done nothing but hurt businesses and law-abiding citizens.

      For example, the recent Seattle Gun and Ammo Tax drove all of the recreational and defensive shooting businesses out of the city limits; the tax law implementation costs taxpayers a tremendous amount of money to implement and the “tax” it was meant to impose upon purchases – $25/firearm + $.05/round of ammunition sold – (which would go towards vague and undisclosed causes) has returned what is likely a net loss, given the lack of reported revenue from all of the businesses that moved to Lynnwood and Edmonds before the start of the year (the only confirmed amount we have access to is $21k).

      In fact, the city won’t even release the financial data behind this debacle because it’s almost as embarrassing and damaging as the Pronto bike scandal. I believe Outdoor Emporium was the only retailer who reported filing any sort of taxes towards the initiative. Everyone else moved North.

      But that’s another argument for another time, I suppose. Just wanted to give you a primer on what gun laws have actually accomplished, in the past decade.

      I say this time and time again, but it seems to fall upon deaf ears: legal gun-owners are some of the safest, meticulous, and most responsible people that you’ll ever meet. If you were part of that community, you would laugh at how obsessed people are in regards to safety (go watch a YouTube review on a firearm and watch how frequently someone “safety checks” a weapon for the camera). They often dedicate large portions of their lives towards training and preparedness and are typically very considerate of others, in my own experience.

      You might also be shocked to learn that a great number of gun owners (even those scary NRA members!) are more than happy to answer questions and discuss things rationally. with those who would just as soon vote to restrict our given rights as law-abiding citizens of this country. :)

      That doesn’t mean that there still aren’t blockheads out there — it just means that it’s probably time to stop blaming and punishing the average American gun owner for the actions of a few bad apples who didn’t play by the rules and did something stupid or dangerous because it’s just in their nature to do so (regrettably).

      So if preventing unnecessary death is your primary concern, you really might want to set your sights on cars and the number of irresponsible drivers we issue licenses to.

      Anyway, take care.

  • Jackson Longfellow March 17, 2017 (1:44 pm)

    The description of the car is similar to one I saw in my neiborhood during an altercation. Some kids were punching it out and a car that fits the description showed up and it was a young lady driving it. She joined the other youngsters, definitely part of their crew. 

  • Christian March 17, 2017 (2:29 pm)

    I was up last when I heard the gunshots. I live right in the junction. They were looking right in front origins dispensary for a long while propably trying to find the bullet things or whatever there called. I thought I had just imagined it until like 3/4 cops showed up. 

  • d March 17, 2017 (8:01 pm)

    If you’re only 17 it’s not legal to have a gun anyway.

    • Mike March 17, 2017 (8:42 pm)

      Odd, I was hunting with a 20 gauge pump shotgun at age 10.  You must mean not old enough to buy a gun without an adult.  There’s no age restriction on using a firearm, there are on carrying a concealed weapon.  The use by these people is illegal for anyone, age isn’t the issue.  They are old enough to make a decision to potentially kill somebody with the firearm, they should be held responsible for their actions.  

      • Double Dub Resident March 18, 2017 (7:33 am)

        There are restrictions. You have to be 21 to carry a handgun whether concealed or open carry. And people don’t tend to “hunt” with a handgun

        • Mike March 21, 2017 (6:18 am)

          There are a LOT of people who do hunt with a hand gun.  You don’t need to be 21 to use a hand gun either.  Purchasing and CCW permit, sure, but there’s not age limit on who can use one.

      • Andy March 18, 2017 (7:55 am)

        It is against the law to carry a concealed firearm, no matter how old you are, unless you are licensed to do so. In order for me to get my license to legally carry a concealed pistol, I was finger printed by the FBI and proven to be over 21 years old and not a felon. 

        In this case the shooter was an under age convicted criminal with a felony record. For anyone who wonders how this sort of thing happens, they should understand that criminals don’t care about laws that those of us who are not criminals abide by.

        • Mike March 21, 2017 (6:25 am)

          There are numerous felons and under age individuals who walk into stores and buy guns.  Quality gun shops do their job and run the checks and ID’s, but there are a lot that don’t.  The worst offenders are the gun show sales people.  You can buy a gun online and have it shipped to your door.  It’s pathetically easy to buy a gun, easier than buying Sudafed.

  • Garden_nymph March 17, 2017 (8:08 pm)

    Seriously 3/4 cops?! I had heard our police force was SMALL but wow…

    Good job SPD!

  • Sam5038 March 17, 2017 (9:25 pm)

    That car may have been the same ones that where doing a shoot out in front of my house last week at 21st ave sw. They left a bullet hole in my neighbors car. 

  • CR March 17, 2017 (9:34 pm)

    Great job SPD.  Will be interested in how this turns out in the court system.  As usual, WSB will report the outcome.  

    Unfortunately, I am predicting  he will back on the streets in a week or less and will be a repeat “customer” for SPD.  We are way past due for new leadership in the prosecutors office.  Same for the Mayor’s office  and City Council.

    • WSB March 17, 2017 (9:53 pm)

      I’m not certain how far I’ll be able to follow this one, without names, and with the cases proceeding through the juvenile justice system, which is mostly kept offline … much of our followups involve watching and sifting through online court files. But I’m hoping that I’ll at least be able to get some info via the prosecuting attorney’s office on Monday. – TR

    • Seattlite March 17, 2017 (10:19 pm)

      CR — Totally agree with your comment.

    • WSGuy March 17, 2017 (10:29 pm)

      Agree, time to sack the mayor and the council.  I used to mock the tired politician trope of promising to fight crime and lower taxes.  Now it would be a breath of fresh air!

      • Andy March 18, 2017 (8:04 am)

        While we are at it, we need to remind the Washington State Attorney General, Bob Ferguson,  that if he is going to propose new gun laws, they need to be directed toward restricting criminals, not law abiding, gun owning citizens!

  • Kevin March 18, 2017 (9:53 am)

    East Junction?

  • WestCake March 18, 2017 (8:39 pm)

    This is scary. Kids are the ones who will kill you because they don’t understand how long and great life becomes. Great job by the police. 

  • Junction Lady March 19, 2017 (10:24 am)

    Our city is a sad state of affairs.  I’m so embarassed.  

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