(Photo added – SPD still investigating as of just before 5 pm)
2:36 PM: Police are investigating a report of shots fired in the 9400 block of 15th SW (map). No reports of anyone being hit/injured; radio communication monitored via scanner says it’s believed to have involved some kind of argument between people in a car and people on foot – we haven’t heard whether the shots came from the former or latter.

3:23 PM: Police reported finding at least one shell casing.

4:13 PM: Now there’s word someone WAS hit and wound up at Valley Medical Center – just tweeted by SPD, which says the victim has non-life-threatening injuries.

4:56 PM: Just talked to police at the scene. The man previously reported as hit was in the car involved in the incident, which took him directly to a hospital, and that’s why there was no medic callout. Separately, a stray bullet hit a parked van behind a local business (The Live Butcher – photo added below).

No one was in the van and no one was hurt by that bullet, nor was the business itself affected. And as we write this update, an SPD Blotter post has just been published, saying a woman in the car was “grazed” by a bullet in addition to the man who was shot in the leg. Police are still on the scene looking for witnesses.

From the SPD Police Reports map, the icons show burglaries reported over the past week. As you can see, Highland Park had a cluster, Isaac wrote to mention, and we have heard from one of the victims, Chris:

I want to let folks know that our house near 15th and Trenton was broken into (Tuesday) sometime between 10 and 2 p.m. No one was home. Whoever it was gained access through a backyard window that we mistakenly left ajar. We have a dog that usually barks at strangers but it didn’t seem to matter. The thief or thieves took
two 5th generation Nano iPods (one blue and one green) but curiously left other relatively easy-to-steal items behind. They did ransack our bedroom, which included emptying our dressers and closet. It was apparent that they went through our entire house. The police officer felt that from his experience these were kids who were looking for something specific (cash and drugs). Please remind people to make sure all windows and doors are locked.

In addition to the break-in at Chris’s house, here are the reported burglaries to which the icons on the map screengrab refer, north to south:
*Tuesday night, 1600 block of 46th SW
*Sunday afternoon, 4100 block of 52nd SW
*Reported Sunday but happened June 3rd, 3400 block SW Genesee (old substation building)
*2 break-ins early Sunday and early Tuesday, 2600 block SW Andover (WS Athletic Club)
*Tuesday afternoon, 5300 block Beach Drive SW
*Early Tuesday, 7700 block 10th SW
*Sunday evening, 8600 block Delridge Way SW
*Early Tuesday, 8600 block 12th SW
*Reported last Thursday but happened June 9th, 9200 block 2nd SW (unit at Public Storage)
*Saturday afternoon, 10200 block 47th SW

Ahead – stolen mail and stolen car, found:
Read More

Long report, but not because of a sudden crime wave – the reports have come in over the past several days. We start with information on crime prevention; the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network has published notes from the auto-theft discussion, featuring a guest from SPD, at its most recent meeting. You might be surprised to see how the Southwest Precinct’s auto-theft trends compare to other parts of the city, for example. It’s all on the WSBWCN site here.

That brings us to an attempted car theft reported by Nathaniel on Saturday:

Just wanted to let you know of an attempted auto theft of a 1994 Honda Accord from the 8500 block of 37th Ave Sw. They destroyed the ignition, couldn’t get it started, then ripped out the battery. Thankfully they left the beer in the backseat so it isn’t all bad!

Next – a stolen bicycle to watch for. John says it was stolen from his front porch on May 29th:

It’s a black Townie Electra with a leather “tank” bag. Contact police if you see it.

Two car break-ins to report. Dawn says hers was broken into Friday night in the 6700 block of 41st, “nothing major stolen” but she “wanted neighbors to keep an eye out and make sure doors are locked and alarms are on.” We also had a break-in report from earlier in the week in a Westwood carport:

I have an older Honda Civic and they popped my window out of the track and unlocked my doors to get in. I didn’t have anything valuable in my car. As far as I can tell nothing is missing… (but) They managed to drop their lighter in my backseat though so they must’ve really tried looking for something.

Missing a safe?

Might even be the one reported stolen recently in the 29th/Trenton vicinity, reports Kezia, who read about that burglary and wondered if the safe found at 26th/Trenton was the same one. It was reported to police and eventually disappeared, though the finder isn’t sure if it was taken away by officers or someone else.

And from Matthew, who wondered if this happened to anyone else this weekend:

(Friday night) at about 10:55 pm whilst watching a movie, my fiancé & I heard two strange thuds and turned our movie on mute to run outside & see what caused the noise. It appears someone egged our home (3 eggs total, from what I can tell). We live at the 3200 block of Walnut Ave SW, just a block from WS High School.

Police arrested two teenage girls after a Westwood resident reported chasing burglars out of his home early this morning. According to the report we just obtained from police – thanks to the neighbors who told us about the early-morning search – the resident had arrived home at 3:50 am, walked in through his carport, but didn’t lock the door behind him. After about 15 minutes, he went downstairs and found two intruders in a “study area” off the carport. He yelled; they “giggled and ran out the door” – with four laptops, a wallet containing cash and cards, and an iPod. A K-9 team joining the search found the suspects – girls, 15 and 16 years old – “hiding under a porch a couple blocks away” near SW Elmgrove and 30th SW (map), with “an empty wallet … at their feet” – identified by the victim as his. Police then found the stolen laptops and cards in a backpack “hidden in a container (with) some rocks piled on top of it” in a nearby yard. The backpack also contained a purple iPod that didn’t belong to the burglary victim, whose gray iPod remained missing. After the suspects were taken to the precinct, the report says, they were searched; one had $87 in cash in her sock. One suspect also was found to have a “no bail” warrant out for her arrest in a theft case; both were booked into the Youth Services Center for investigation of burglary.

(Thursday night WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
New information from Seattle Police might help solve the Thursday night hit-run that injured a bicycle rider at the east end of the “low bridge.” It was added to the original SPD Blotter post last night; we added it to our original story but in case you didn’t go back looking for an update, here are the new details:

Detectives have reason to believe the suspect vehicle is light metallic blue and is missing the right-side mirror. The vehicle should have damage to the front bumper as well as heavy damage to the windshield. The suspect’s vehicle had been traveling westbound at the time of the collision and likely continued over the lower bridge and into West Seattle. Detectives are asking anyone with information to please call TCIS Detective Andrew Norton at (206) 684-8934.

Please do call that number with ANY information – don’t post it in comments; thanks. (In case it helps with time frame, the original SFD dispatch to the incident scene was at 9:17 pm Thursday night.)

(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
8:54 PM: Thanks to the texter who tipped us about police investigating a report of gunfire near 18th and Thistle after 7 pm tonight. We found them looking at the pickup truck you see in the photo above. One of its tires went flat, possibly because a bullet hit it. Police also found a bullet hole in the pickup’s bumper:

The pickup’s driver, a teenage boy, was not hurt. No suspects so far.

ADDED 8:50 AM: Lots more details just released by Seattle Police via SPD Blotter:

On 5/10/14, just shortly after 7:00 p.m. officers were initially dispatched to a report of a male saying that he was being chased by seven people who were armed with guns and knives near 16 Ave SW & SW Holden St.

The suspects were in a black, medium-sized truck with tinted windows. Officers arrived in the area and observed a person flashing gang signs to a truck that matched this description. Officers contacted the person flashing gang signs and while doing so, multiple 911 calls were received of shots fired in the immediate area.

Officers arrived in the area and located the truck in question at 18 Av SW & SW Thistle St. The pickup truck had a flat tire. The driver, a 17-year-old white male was detained. A closer inspection of the truck revealed a bullet hole in the left front tire and on the passenger side of the rear bumper.

Officers located a scene in the 7700 block of 18 Av SW, in the alley to the east. Three shell casings were recovered. The 17-year-old male claimed he didn’t know anything and had no idea why anyone would shoot at him. He did admit to driving down the alley. Officers obtained consent to search his vehicle and a small bag of methamphetamine was recovered.

The subject was investigated released from the scene. The original caller could not be located nor were any other victims found. This appears to be related to ongoing gang activity centered near the 8400 block of Delridge Way SW. The suspects were described as black and Hispanic male teens.