We’re at the Southwest Precinct, where — after the Delridge District Council meeting wrapped up (details on that later) — we got to see the early draft of the report on last night’s High Point incident that left a police officer badly hurt. Here are the basics:
Caveat: You probably will have followup questions that won’t be answerable till the investigation is further along and charges are decided against the suspects. This is absolutely everything that’s in the report so far:
Two officers were sent to 32nd and Raymond (map) last night around quarter till 9 to check out a report of a “disturbance involving several males and a female.” They couldn’t find anything, but while continuing to look around the area, they noticed “several males in a verbal disturbance.”
They saw one male slam another one to the ground. One of the officers stepped between the two and ordered them to break it up – and that’s when it all began – one suspect turned and punched the officer three times in the face; while the officer struggled to get the suspect under control, a woman jumped on the officer, and started scratching his face, while trying to pull him off the suspect.
The officer got free and then was hit in the head by yet another male, and in turn was assaulted by “several unidentified people,” as he continued to try to get the original suspect under control. Then that second male hit the officer again in the head, before backing up a ways and then charging the officer before delivering a “soccer-style kick” to his head.
Somewhere in the middle of all this, the original suspect even tried to grab the officer’s gun, which was on his “duty belt.” (There is no further explanation of exactly how officers managed to resolve and control this situation.) Police managed to get the attackers “moved back,” and arrested all three (the “soccer-style kick” suspect was taken into custody a few blocks away, at 35th/Holly).
Now the kicker, pun not intended: The suspects’ ages – juveniles, as police originally mentioned, but on the low end of the range mentioned earlier. The two males are 16 (not West Seattle residents; according to the police report, one is a Cleveland High student, the other South Lake High, which has just ended its 2-year temporary stay at Hughes in West Seattle); the female is a 17-year-old High Point resident, no school identified in the police report.
The officer is 35; he was treated at Harborview Medical Center, according to the report, but as we mentioned earlier, Southwest Precinct leaders say “he’s going to be OK.” We will keep watch to see what charges are filed against the suspects in this attack and will let you know whenever more information is available.
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