(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
5:02 PM: Police and fire are responding to an “assault with weapons” call believed to be a shooting, initially reported in the 4700 block of 38th SW (map), which is just south of The Triangle. The victim is being taken to Fire Station 32, which is nearby. We’re en route. Police are searching the area – radio traffic suggests police believe the victim was shot while walking in the vicinity. More to come.

5:10 PM: Official police info via Twitter – “a man was shot in the mouth.” If you are seeing/hearing a helicopter, it’s TV.

5:14 PM: Per medic discussion on scanner: The victim is a 31-year-old man who was walking his dog when he got hit by a pellet.

5:20 PM: Police were using a bullhorn to try to get someone out of a house on 38th SW. Our crew on the scene reports someone has been cuffed. No formal confirmation yet if that is the, or a, suspect.

5:28 PM: It’s clear from what our crew is seeing and what we hear via radio that police are still trying to sort all this out, regarding the circumstances, and whether the person they were talking to had anything to do with it. Their search remains very active. We’re seeing Gang Unit detectives on scene, though it is always stressed that their presence doesn’t necessarily mean gang involvement is suspected.

5:40 PM: An update on SPD Blotter describes the “pellet” as “possibly (a) BB” and says the victim was hit in the right cheek. Still a very active search/investigation. The injury is described as NOT life-threatening.

6:27 PM UPDATE: Police are reported to be searching the house they’ve been focusing on.

6:33 PM UPDATE: Also via radio – the house is reported to have “checked clear.” (We still have crews at the scene but they’re on each end of the block, as close as anyone will be allowed.)

8:16 PM UPDATE: No updates of note. We’re adding more photos and also this interview with Lt. Ron Smith – who discusses some of what else police found, including damaged vehicles:

The streets in the area are back open as of about an hour ago.

9:04 PM: If you couldn’t play back the video – Lt. Smith says police have no idea what the victim was shot with, describing it repeatedly as an “unknown projectile” that went through his cheek and out his mouth, apparently without even damaging his teeth in the meantime. He told police he didn’t see anyone or anything – just suddenly felt it hit him. Lt. Smith says the search of the house turned up a .22 rifle but it had not been fired recently.

THURSDAY MORNING, 9:27 AM: Just checked back with SPD media-relations Det. Mark Jamieson. He says the “projectile” still has not been found; also, the person who was being questioned was released, no arrest made – this all remains something of a mystery.

3:18 PM: A police operation that blocked off streets in Riverview this past hour is reported to have resulted in the arrest of two people in connection with a crime elsewhere in the city. (update) SPD Blotter reports the arrests are in connection with a shooting earlier today in South Seattle.

4:28 PM: Added a photo from the arrests’ aftermath, with some police remaining at the scene. The earlier shooting happened at a restaurant in the 500 block of South Michigan in Georgetown, according to police, with one person shot in the arm. We don’t know at this point whether the people arrested this afternoon lived at the Riverview house where they were found or were visiting.

7:04 PM: One more update from SPD – confirming something we heard during radio communications – investigators found a gun while making the arrests.

12:16 AM: Alan points out in comments that SPD added yet another update late tonight – here’s the additional information relevant to this afternoon’s arrests:

… Patrol officers developed information during the course of their field investigation that led them to a residence in the 1200 block of SW Myrtle Street. Once there, officers saw that the suspect’s Blazer was parked in front of the residence.

Officers surrounded the house and made telephone contact with the suspects. Both suspects subsequently surrendered to the officers and were taken into custody without further incident.

The officers recovered the gun that is believed to be the one used in the shooting. The firearm was submitted into evidence for further forensic analysis.

Both suspects were booked into the King County Jail.

Suspect #1, a 20-year-old male, was booked for Felony Assault.
Suspect #2, an 18-year-old male, was booked for (Felony) Rendering Criminal Assistance.

Two cars were broken into, one (the 6500 block) and the other (in the 6700 block). The windows on the outside (rather than the sidewalk side) were almost fully broken.

Analysis:

Observation 1:
The distance betweeen the two houses is far enough that if a person heard one car being broken into, the other one was far enough away that the person would not hear the other being broken into. There were plenty of cars that could have otherwise be broken into. Thus, I think the person has some sense of not awakening the neighborhood.

Observation 2:
Both glove comparment were left open.
a. One car was a loaner car from a dealer, hence nothing of value inside. Two windows broken.
b. The other car had the glove compartment gone thru, with items (old CD’s, etc.) thrown on the drivers seat.

General:
1. Leave nothing of value in the glove compartment.
2. Pay attention to glass breaking noise at night.

Other:

I awoke during the night 4ish and remember a car with its lights on on the other side of the car that was broken into. I thought, that is unusual, but was I going to go out, just barely awake?, and check if anything was happening. In retrospect, that might have yielded an answer.

Much of what Jay wrote dovetails with car-prowl-related advice from Southwest/South Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon, in the form of his newest newsletter, received today. In case you didn’t get it – here’s the heart of it:

Recently many of our neighborhoods have experienced a high degree of car prowls. This is a concern from Arbor Heights to Mount Baker, Rainier Beach to Alki, and all points in between. Car prowl is a regional problem, not just a neighborhood problem or a City of Seattle problem.

It’s frustrating in so many ways.

There’s the loss of property. We often think items should be safe in our vehicles; we shouldn’t have to hide our stuff. In an ideal world, that would be true. Unfortunately, there are those who, given the opportunity, will steal from others. If there is something to take, they’ll take it. There’s the damage – if any – done to the vehicle. I say “if any” because many times, the thieves don’t have to break a window to gain entry to the car; the car is left unlocked.

These crimes are so prevalent, happen very quickly with little chance for immediate police response – if the crime is reported – and often occur in late night/early morning hours when there is little chance of the thieves being seen by neighbors.

One frustration for police is that many of these car prowls are not reported. As a result, police may not have an accurate picture of the degree of the problem. I know about many of these incidents because I get your e-mails where you discuss among yourselves what’s been happening in your neighborhoods. Our officers hear 2nd-3rd hand about the incidents because of what neighbors say after the fact. However, the actual number of reported incidents, those that were called in to 911 or reported on-line, do not reflect the level of activity that you are relaying to us. It’s not enough to mention in passing that a car was broken into. That crime needs to be reported. Don’t just email each other or me; make an official report to 911 or on-line.

I’ve heard from neighbors that they didn’t report the car prowl because it didn’t appear that anything was taken, even though it was obvious the car had been gone through. I’ve also heard from neighbors that there was no damage to the car, or the car was left unlocked, and therefore the car prowl wasn’t reported. Just because it doesn’t appear that something was taken or that no physical damage was done does not mean that no crime was committed. Please, report them. If you don’t tell us, we won’t know.

Reporting
To report a car prowl in progress, call 911 immediately. It is a crime in progress and that has a higher priority of response than a crime that occurred some time ago. Answer the call takers questions to the best of your ability. To report a car prowl that occurred sometime in the past; 1) Call 911, tell the call taker up front that it is not an emergency or a crime in progress, but that you want to report a car prowl. 2) Using our on-line reporting system: http://www.seattle.gov/police/report/default.htm In either case, whether you call it in or do it on-line, the information will be entered and a record of the incident will be generated, and you will still receive an incident number for that occurrence, even without an officer showing up to take a report.

The Stuff

A bag containing a laptop. A case with photographic lenses. A passport. A Handbag containing cash, credit and debit cards, driver’s license and social security card. A purse with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, Galaxy 2 phone, wallet, $3000 cash. An iPod Nano, miscellaneous power tools, keys to managed rental properties. Backpacks with personal items/effects, purse with wallet, credit/debit cards, ID. A pair of Nike Jordan 5’s.

These are some of the items that have been taken from vehicles in the past week. All these vehicles were parked on the street, often overnight and often in front of a residence. Aside from thoughts of disbelief (like who leaves $3000 in cash in a purse on the floor of a car parked on the street overnight?), the obvious question for me is why are we leaving our valuables in our vehicles when we could take them inside the home that’s less than 30 feet away?

There are ways to avoid being a victim of car prowl. The most effective step is to not leave anything of value in an unattended vehicle. If you are out running errands and are going to be making multiple stops, don’t leave valuables in the interior of the vehicle where they can be seen. Place them in the trunk when you get them before proceeding to your next stop. If you want to enjoy one our local parks, don’t leave valuables inside the passenger compartment; put them in the trunk. However, don’t wait until you get to the park to put your valuables in the trunk; you’ve just shown everyone in the area you’ve put valuables in the trunk. Put the items in the trunk before you get to the park and leave the vehicle.

Recent Car Prowl Arrest
There is a bit of good news. Early morning on Saturday, May 11th, officers arrested three adult males for Investigation of Car Prowl. Once caught, they were found to have stolen property from multiple vehicles. They admitted to trying car doors, and upon finding an unlocked door, went through the vehicles and helped themselves. They admitted to prowling at about 15 vehicles that night. The good news here is that we were able to catch and arrest three thieves who caused a lot of neighbors a lot of grief. This would not have been possible if not for the neighbor who heard a noise coming from the street, and who upon checking it out saw someone sitting in his neighbor’s vehicle who he knew was not his neighbor. These arrests would not have been possible without that neighbor’s vigilance and the 911 call that was made. We’d like to acknowledge the officers who responded to that call and made these arrests: Officers, A. Belgarde, D. D’ambrosio, T. Persun, and D. Ward.

We’ve said many times, car prowl, liked most crime, is a crime of opportunity; if you remove or reduce the opportunity, you remove and reduce the crime. Police can respond to a crime once it has occurred. Police can work to deter crime, but can’t do so if the crime goes unreported. It is through your reporting that police are able to respond and act. Police will do what can be done. However, it is you as neighbors that prevent crime. It is neighbors taking the step to not leave valuables in the unattended vehicle, but instead take them inside the home or workplace with them. It is neighbors knowing each other to extent that they know the person they see sitting in a neighbor’s car doesn’t belong there, and they are willing to say something. You can’t have community without communication.

To find out more about the latest crime trends, and to bring your community concerns to the attention of Southwest Precinct police leadership, be at next Tuesday’s meeting of the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council, 7 pm at the precinct (Delridge/Webster). The scheduled guest is burglary Det. Jill Vanskike.

As always, the WSBeat summaries are from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers that (usually) have not already appeared here in breaking-news coverage or West Seattle Crime Watch reports, but that might at least answer the question “what WERE all those police doing on my block?”:

*A homeless 24-year-old who hangs out in the Admiral area was spotted last weekend as he sat down at an establishment in the 2600 block of California Ave. SW. Because officers knew he was wanted on a criminal trespass warrant, they stopped to chat. A routine search of his backpack turned up a bolt cutter, hammer and box cutters (Suspect: “I use them for work.” Officer: “Where do you work?” Suspect:“I’m unemployed.”), along with 53 prescription pain killers and a plastic bag full of jewelry. He was booked into King County Jail for the warrant, possession of a drug without a prescription, and possession of burglary and auto theft tools.

Five more summaries ahead:

*In Arbor Heights a week and a half ago, after he violated a court order to stay away from his girlfriend, a suspect was arrested and placed in the back of a patrol car. He banged his head so violently on the safety bars that officers were afraid he would split his head open. They opened the rear door and tried to calm him down, but he lunged at (and tried to bite) one officer. When additional officers arrived, he was wrestled to the ground but continued biting and threatening to break the officers’ fingers (and nearly succeeded). He also kicked one officer in the side. He was finally booked into King County Jail for the violation of the court order and for non-aggravated assault against officers. This all began when his girlfriend called 911, crying that her “ex was in the house” and that she feared for her life. She didn’t want him arrested, however. In fact, she was planning to go to court the next day to get the no-contact order removed. An officer asked why she’d remove a court order against a suspect who she thought might kill her. Her response? “I just have to.”

*Early on the 24th, in the 2300 block of California Ave. SW, a citizen reported two juveniles checking car door handles Officers found the pair and were familiar with one, a 14-year-old with a history of alcohol abuse. Whereas his friend was “cooperative, calm and respectful,” he was confrontational, refused to obey officer commands, and was obviously under the influence of a substance. Both were released to their grateful parents; the disruptive one’s mother apologized to officers repeatedly and said she wished her son could be locked up for the night.

*Two adults — a husband and wife, both with mental health concerns — were walking home from a store when the woman began crying, screaming, and “lying on the street.” She threatened to stab her husband if he didn’t give her money. Since she didn’t have a knife, the man told officers that he wasn’t concerned about his safety. But when they returned home, he locked her out and called police to have her committed. His wife admitted she had been drinking while on her meds and that she was pregnant. She was transported to the hospital for treatment.

*Angry and upset at not being able to visit his favorite hangout (he had been trespassed in January), a 21-year-old arrived at the business (in the 9000 block of 35th SW) late Friday, punched the front door glass (cracking it), and argued with the business owner. In his right front pocket was a baggie of meth and a credit card in someone else’s name.

*A man went into a business in the 9400 block of Delridge one recent Thursday morning around 7 and offered a young man $60 in exchange for a “clean” urine sample (which he needed in order to get a job).

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EDITOR’S NOTES: Remember, the CRISIS CLINIC hotline is a resource for those in crisis, including thoughts or acts of self-harm, or trying to find help for someone in crisis: 206.461.3222 … Previous WSBeat roundups are archived here. We also publish crime reports when we get tips or otherwise hear about noteworthy incidents – they don’t all turn up on the scanner, so please don’t be shy about letting us know when you see/hear something happening = calling or texting 206-293-6302 is the best way.

12:21 PM: KCSO spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West says it was NOT their operation – their SWAT team WAS out last night but in an entirely different part of the county. So we’re still trying to find out what this was about.

After taking a wallet, phone, iPod, and keys, the report says, the robbers jumped into a white minivan that had pulled up to get them and then sped off northbound on Fauntleroy. The van is described in the report as older, possibly 1980s, Chevy Astro type of van with stripes on the side and damage on the driver’s side appearing as if the vehicle had scraped against something, with scratches and dents resulting all along that side of the van. The robbers were described as about 17 years old, all males around 5’7″ to 5’8″. They didn’t get good descriptions of all of them but did describe the one with the gun as “black, slender, with a shaved head, red sweatshirt, and baggy blue jeans” and another one as “Hispanic or Latino, stockier build, wearing a dark tank top and light-colored pants.” The victims told police they believe they had seen the robbers in the park earlier and believe they might have been followed. If you have any information that could help find the robbers, please call police.

4:47 PM UPDATE: One of the victims has posted a comment, confirming it was indeed near Fauntleroy/Holly, and mentioning some of the items to be on the lookout for.

Checking overnight reports, we see another report from overnight – 1700 block of Alki SW. But not everyone files police reports (checking the report map, we see fewer bike-theft icons than we’d expect, given what we hear about); Sgt. Bauer reiterates the importance of filing a report, and has one more reminder: “Please put identifying information on the bike that can make it easier for us to return it and make it harder for the bad guys to sell the bike.”

Thanks to the people who tipped us about some kind of police operation under way in the vicinity of the Super 24 store along Delridge. WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand arrived and found SWAT officers, guns drawn, and someone apparently in custody. No one is commenting at the scene so we are trying to find out more. Traffic was stopped on Delridge for a while but Patrick says it’s just been allowed to resume.

6:29 PM: Same thing here – while we had sidetracked to check out a car crash reported to be blocking traffic nearby, this scene cleared, uneventfully.

Police responded to an assault call in the West Seattle Stadium area. According to Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Pierre Davis, a woman under the influence of the drug known as “ecstasy” attacked someone by hitting them with a skateboard. Lt. Davis says she’s in custody. The victim was taken to a hospital to be evaluated.

Also tonight, two reader reports. First one is about attempted burglaries (these came up at tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, too, and we’re working on the full report on everything discussed there). John in the 5000 block of 40th SW reports:

My back door was kicked in yesterday morning at 7 am, as was my next-door neighbor’s door. Nothing was stolen out of either house. My neighbor was home at the time, I was not. I understand a house two blocks from me had the same thing happen around 3 pm yesterday.

From Miranda, word of a stolen moped – the one in this montage:

She says it was stolen Sunday night or Monday near 59th/Alki: “The moped is a Motobecane; it has pedals but is missing it’s motor as we were working on updating it. The front wheel is bright turquoise and the back on is a maroon-ish color. It’s very unique so it’s hard to miss.” If you’ve seen it, call police.

2:52 PM: Police and fire have responded to 31st and 108th in Arbor Heights – it’s an “assault with weapons” call – details as soon as we get them.

2:56 PM: According to SPD’s Det. Jeff Kappel, this appears to be self-inflicted. No word on the person’s condition; we’re told they are being taken to Harborview Medical Center.

P.S. As we always note in such cases – if you know someone talking about or threatening self-harm, Crisis Clinic is there to help – 24-hour hotline, 206-461-3222.