Updates: SWAT team in Fauntleroy standoff, roads blocked

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ORIGINAL 2:47 PM REPORT: Checking on multiple reports (thanks for the calls and e-mails) of major police activity in the Endolyne business district area of Fauntleroy. We’re told roads are blocked off in the area. One neighbor describes the scene: “Multiple cop cars cutting off every street in my neighborhood and police with guns drawn running around especially up by the bakery/restaurant.” We’re heading down the hill now to find out what’s going on.

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2:59 PM: Still no official information as it is a very chaotic scene but two citizen reports suggest it involves a suspect who may have a gun. So DEFINITELY avoid the area TFN. We can’t get close from the west side so we’re going around the other way. Scanner indicates special units are being used here including SWAT (en route if not there yet) – a negotiator is apparently on the scene. Scanner says suspect has told police no one else is with him.

3:22 PM UPDATE: An officer at the scene told us the person they’re all focused on is believed to be in the alley behind Endolyne Joe’s. The SWAT team has just arrived — adding a photo in a moment.

3:54 PM UPDATE: No major updates from the scene. Police all in position, though some of them have moved around. Scanner traffic within the past several minutes indicated the suspect was still talking via phone with police. And on a practical note, this is affecting traffic toward and from the ferry dock AND traffic between Fauntleroy and Marine View Drive/west Arbor Heights, so keep that in mind.

4:12 PM UPDATE: To further clarify, co-publisher Patrick Sand, who’s our reporter/photographer on the scene right now, says he’s been told the suspect is in a 2-story apartment building on the alley behind Endolyne Joe’s. Just in case that helps you further figure out where all this is unfolding. Adding a photo – note we are cropping our SWAT team photos as it’s important in standoff situations not to show police’s exact positions, lest a suspect be monitoring media (of any kind):

4:36 PM UPDATE: Police are now using a bullhorn to try to get the suspect to re-establish contact. From comments (if you haven’t read it there already), Rick is at the scene and forced to stay at his workplace while the standoff continues:

I’m at work in the middle of this, i’m inside the taped area, my office wall adjacent to this alley. There are a handful of swat patrol guys with machine guns outside my window. I tried to leave and they told me to go back inside and wait. I’m watching from my window…

WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli is also now at the scene, which we have covered from both sides. (After arriving, he took the next photo, added Saturday evening:)

5:30 PM UPDATE: No major developments. Standoff still under way. Police still trying to get suspect to re-establish contact. The loud noises you hear are being made by police, deliberately, we can verify. There are still conflicting anecdotal reports from the scene whether anyone was believed to be in the house with the man.

6:01 PM UPDATE: Again, we’re not doing play-by-play from the scene because (as discussed in comments) there are some details that it’s safer not to report publicly while these situations are unfolding. Police are still using a bullhorn to try to get the man to respond; the building he’s believed to be in is the 4-plex immediately west of the commercial building at 45th/Wildwood.

6:09 PM UPDATE: SPD spokesperson Officer Renee Witt just confirmed to us – after we called to triplecheck – that what we have been reporting for hours is accurate: NO HOSTAGES.

7:10 PM UPDATE: Status quo at the scene. In news of nearby businesses, we called Endolyne Joe’s to see if they were planning to be open IF this ends before too long, and Mike told us no, they just decided a short time ago to send everybody home, to be on the safe side. So they are closed for the rest of the night, no matter what. Kitty-corner in the same intersection, though, people are coming and going from Guadalajara – that’s on the other side of the police tape.

7:38 PM UPDATE: Police at least briefly heard from the suspect for the first time in a while, according to the scanner. And without going into further detail, let’s just say this could go on for quite some time. Just saying that so if you live in the area and have been waiting to make your plans for the evening based on whether this might end sometime soon, you can plan otherwise. We will probably start a new story for evening updates on this, since there’s another story we’ve been holding off on publishing to keep this atop the page; when we do that, we will add the URL here, but till you see that, we’ll add any new info here.

8:12 PM UPDATE: It’s over – the man came out and surrendered. Starting a separate post to cover that. Find it here.

Bonnie April 25, 2009 (3:15 pm)

OMG, I live right up the street and have seen nothing. Okay, now I hear a siren.

hopey April 25, 2009 (3:16 pm)

Glad you posted this.
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From my vantage point, I can see three cruisers and one stopped Metro bus. One of the cruisers is blocking Brace Point Drive, just east of… I guess that’s 45th? The street Endolyne Joe’s faces. All traffic is being diverted to the south-southwest, past Endolyne Joe’s.

Cherylc April 25, 2009 (3:17 pm)

SWAT just passed our house on 35th and Holly. Startled me to say the least.

WSB April 25, 2009 (3:20 pm)

The SWAT team is showing up now. Adding a photo in a moment.

barton_st April 25, 2009 (3:21 pm)

SWAT vehicles just flew by my house on Barton St. en route to Endolyne about 10 minutes ago 3:10pm.

Kathleen April 25, 2009 (3:28 pm)

now we have helicopters!

tj April 25, 2009 (3:44 pm)

awesome. =)

Dreamland April 25, 2009 (3:46 pm)

KOMO is saying it’s a “mentally unstable” man with a shotgun.

WSB April 25, 2009 (3:53 pm)

They’re listening to the same scanner we are on this end (and we have someone down at the scene too). We’ve heard some things we’re not going to report unless they affect public safety or unless they are officially announced by police. Definitely a man believed to have a gun (which is why all the response) and who, as we reported, is believed to be alone – still grounds for a standoff till they get him into custody.

Mookie April 25, 2009 (4:02 pm)

I’m keeping a good thought that no one is hurt and that this all ends well.

Noticed the KOMO website is getting info from the WSB:

“A witness told the West Seattle Blog that “multiple cop cars (are) cutting off every street in my neighborhood” and that officers are running with guns drawn.”

WSB April 25, 2009 (4:10 pm)

At least they attributed. Not sure if the tv stations that have posted online updates actually have people at the scene – Patrick hasn’t seen ’em so far.

WSB April 25, 2009 (4:12 pm)

Oh wait, just got off the phone with him. That’s because he actually is in a better spot. They’re all being moved further west.

Rick Kowal April 25, 2009 (4:17 pm)

I’m at work in the middle of this, i’m inside the taped area, my office wall adjacent to this alley. There are a handful of swat patrol guys with machine guns outside my window. I tried to leave and they told me to go back inside and wait. I’m watching from my window…

melissa April 25, 2009 (4:30 pm)

Sorry, Rick. That’s got to be pretty terrifying. Hell, I’m spooked that my husband took my kids to Lincoln Park! I can’t imagine how unnerving it must be for you. Hope it’s resolved quickly and peacefully.

hopey April 25, 2009 (4:30 pm)

Looks like a news camera tripod is now set up on Brace Point between the police tape and a squad car, on the west side of the scene.

CB April 25, 2009 (4:43 pm)

Criminals can always count on the WSB for lots of current info on their crime, the position of the police, and what they are up against.

This all seems like way too much public information in my opinion. We can all post, later, once the police have done their job.

s April 25, 2009 (4:52 pm)

I for one am happy to have WSB. Was just about to take my dogs for a walk and passing by Joe’s is directly on our route! We would have walked right into it without WSB! So a big high five and thank you for keeping us in the loop!

WSB April 25, 2009 (4:59 pm)

CB, you’ve made that point before. We have a very good relationship with police and believe me, if we ever published anything even remotely jeopardizing their job, I would hear about it lightning-fast. I have 30 years in news and am extremely well-versed, from field work, management work, and meeting with police management, in what is responsible to report and what is irresponsible to report. (Not that they would dictate what we can and cannot show, but it has always been important to understand why they feel that certain kinds of information and images are important to withhold at times.)
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As with other cases, in reporting this one, I have withheld a fair amount of unnecessary detail here, not described what we know about police movements and positions, and even cropped the photos. But this IS a situation that needs to be reported while it’s happening. It’s affecting a residential and business district and is very close to the heart of Fauntleroy – the church, YMCA, schoolhouse. Arbor Heights traffic needs to reroute as well. We’re going to continue to safely, responsibly, and IN A TIMELY MANNER provide information that people need – TR

tj April 25, 2009 (5:09 pm)

WSB will not defeat the Seattle Police Department’s SWAT team…. believe it.

zoetrope April 25, 2009 (5:17 pm)

My wife and I has just finished Blunch at Endolyne Joe’s when this started, I think it was right around 2pm. When we got in our car and left, we had seen 6 different patrol cars in a two block area, and cops hiding behind bushes with semi automatics pointed right at our car as we drove through it. I’m hoping the cops catch this a-hole.

ann ford April 25, 2009 (5:20 pm)

we were there for alittle while. they were on a bullhorn aimed at the apt behind Joe’s. there were telling a person (assuming it’s a guy) named “Maverick” to talk to Mary…. sounds like a domestic dispute? the Swat guys were on the roof of Canine Casa and the trucks positioned at the kitchen door of Joe’s. driving in that area is a mess.

linda Carol Keith April 25, 2009 (5:25 pm)

Linda here, Innkeeper here at Wildwood B&B. Kinda creepy…just heard a gun fire.

dh April 25, 2009 (5:25 pm)

A friend of mine who lives 1/2 block from the scene said her neighbor told her someone in the neighborhood was outside barbecuing and a guy came out with a gun

David Follis April 25, 2009 (5:26 pm)

Just heard a loud boom. We are up on Forest CT Have not gone down to see what is going on as it is wise to stay out of the are if people are shooting at each other.

hopey April 25, 2009 (5:28 pm)

Some kind of explosion about 3 minutes ago. Very startling and loud, lots of smoke. No activity on the street afterwards from my vantage point.
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Hope everyone involved is okay.

WSB April 25, 2009 (5:30 pm)

Our folks at the scene heard it too – however, you can’t assume that a loud sound in a situation like this is a gun – there are also devices police use at certain points in a standoff that make a lot of noise. We’ll know the second something major happens.

David Follis April 25, 2009 (5:32 pm)

Just heard another two loud booms sounds like flash bang grenades unless the guy is shooting at the police. Did not sound like shotgun blasts but hard to tell through the trees.

hopey April 25, 2009 (5:32 pm)

Hello Forest Ct neighbor :) Walk over one block west & down to the dead end. You can see a lot from the safety of the stairway landing.

cass nevada April 25, 2009 (5:32 pm)

looks like the ferry is unloading as usual; just heard another loud boom at 5:31, cars lined up for ferry look like they’ll load as usual. just fyi.

DK April 25, 2009 (5:33 pm)

CB, I think you have a point sort’ve. The WSB is a good forum, but as you can see from reading most of the post’s, alot of people that post here love the police and would not compromise their safety or their job…to a point.

I do believe though that too much info during an evolving, dynamic incident can be harmful. People, (citizens) just need to understand that having instant up to the minute updates from the police is not a right. The authorities will ultimately update the public when the incident is over. Having said that…most normal, reasonable people would just stay out of the area of police activity and quit being overly dramatic about how scared and worried they are to see so many police with weapons drawn.

linda Carol Keith April 25, 2009 (5:36 pm)

Another explosion or gun or something it is so close to the B&B that it is shakes the building I can see all the swatt teams etc right out my windows looking down the alley. Going back to the basement!

shawn b. April 25, 2009 (5:39 pm)

I am finally home. I arrived at the scene at 3:10. I had a 3:15 hair appointment at the salon. It was difficult for me to park but I finally parked on the hill of beach view drive and walked in. The man who seems to be in charge of the negotiationg team walked me in to the salon and I was there for 1 1/2 hours getting my hair cut. The negotiators were on the phone of the Salon Fauntleroy talking to the suspect.
there is more information. I don’t think I should tell at this time.

shawn b. April 25, 2009 (5:44 pm)

finally… being the only customer in the salon for so long getting a haircut while this was going on around us was surreal and creepy. They said we were safe there with them.

David Follis April 25, 2009 (5:58 pm)

Another one…

Tom L April 25, 2009 (5:59 pm)

Third big explosion since about 5:30. I’m resisting the urge to go over there and watch!

hopey April 25, 2009 (6:00 pm)

The police are requesting the suspect leave the building with his hands on his head.

WSB April 25, 2009 (6:01 pm)

On the line of discussion earlier, I do feel the responsibility to ask that you all follow the same unwritten rules we are following, and don’t get too specific about exactly where police are and what they are doing. Since we still have two people at the scene (in addition to me monitoring the scanner from HQ), I’ve had these specifics too but have refrained from doing play-by-play … here’s hoping it will be safely resolved soon.
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By the way: I just got a call back from SPD spokesperson Officer Renee Witt. As we have been reporting for the duration here, THERE ARE NO HOSTAGES. At least one other media outlet claimed the man was believed to be holding someone but Officer Witt confirms that’s NOT the case.

Mort April 25, 2009 (6:34 pm)

Having done a fair amount of consulting work for the criminal justice system I can tell you that cops almost always over-react, and often exacerbate situations like this by acting like Rambo when a cool head is needed. While I met some that were ok, for the most part they were a bunch of over-paid prima donna’s with personal problems – alcoholism, domestic violence, the list goes on. They’ll probably kill the guy- cops love chasin’ and shootin’ at people.

Dave April 25, 2009 (6:41 pm)

Hey Mort:

Going forward, let’s limit responses to intelligent ones.

Thanks!

WSB April 25, 2009 (6:45 pm)

Having listened to the entire situation unfold via scanner and via reports from our guys on the scene … seems they’ve been rather patient in this one. About to hit the four-hour mark. As noted in a comment above, they’ve been asking him to come out, and trying other tactics. Eventually they’re going to have to try to go in … you can’t have an entire neighborhood and business district in effect ‘held hostage’ indefinitely in a situation like this … and you know, if you’ve worked in the criminal-justice system, that’s the part where they have no idea what the situation is inside the house and what/who they will face.

tracey April 25, 2009 (6:47 pm)

The false information about the “hostage situation” probably originated from the people who are gawking from the streets. I live right on 45th and I can hear people from my balcony telling every new person that walks or drives up that this is a hostage situation. In fact, that is what one of them told me when I first walked out there and asked what was happening. Anyway, just saying…that’s probably where one of the media outlets got the false hostage report.

WSB April 25, 2009 (6:56 pm)

Someone told co-publisher Patrick that when he was walking in. But if you have done this for, oh, say, more than a year or so, you know THAT is the kind of thing you hold off on till it’s officially confirmed. Which is why our first blurb above is pretty vague. But anyway, we just wanted to say we’d checked with police again to be sure WE weren’t wrong … and of course ultimately no information will be crystal clear until police are able to go in … TR

hopey April 25, 2009 (7:11 pm)

It’s kinda funny listening to the motorcycles gunning it off the ferry like they always do, only to stop abruptly when they reach the police barricade. :)

LMK April 25, 2009 (7:15 pm)

The 54 bus is being rerouted, sending a shuttle down to the ferry while the bus follows the route for the 22…

WSB April 25, 2009 (7:20 pm)

Thank you! That’s an important side note I hadn’t thought of.

hopey April 25, 2009 (7:26 pm)

Thanks for the update on the restaurants, also. We’d been thinking about heading down to Joe’s to be good neighbors, if the standoff ended early enough.

Mort April 25, 2009 (7:34 pm)

Did it occur to anyone else how Keystone Cop absurd it is that SPD had to use a phone in a beauty salon to talk to the suspect?

miws April 25, 2009 (7:55 pm)

No, Mort. It didn’t.

But, now that you mention it…….it still doesn’t.

Mike

rykrite April 25, 2009 (8:05 pm)

I deeply hope, wish, and pray that everyone comes out of this situation safely.

Mort April 25, 2009 (8:10 pm)

Mike:

“Uh, has anybody got a phone?”
“Forgot to put mine on charge – Max?”
“My hours are gettin sorta short this month – 40 cents after that”
“Oh yeah – triple overtime ain’t what it used to be.”
“I’ll bet that there hair place has one.”

Gimme a break.

4cart April 25, 2009 (8:20 pm)

Praying is the best thing we can do right now….let’s hope this ends soon and that EVERYONE is alright.

hopey April 25, 2009 (8:21 pm)

Mort, would you really trust such an important negotiation to the whim of the cell phone network which could drop the call for no reason? I’m sure they used the salon’s land line.
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Or maybe you don’t remember those?
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Jeez. Use your brains, people.

WSB April 25, 2009 (8:24 pm)

It’s been over since 8:12.

Bhagmata April 25, 2009 (8:27 pm)

Just drove by there and it looks like they’re removing the police line.

Linda Carol Keith April 25, 2009 (8:28 pm)

Linda here at Wildwood. Does anyone know if the police will let people walk into the neighborhood? I have guests who are staying here and have not been able to come back to the B&B…not sure what to tell them…
Linda at Wildwood

CB April 25, 2009 (8:31 pm)

When the SWAT team has weapons out, would you go to the scene and announce to the world what is happening with a bullhorn? Probably not. Twitter and Blogs like this are like a giant bullhorn. Don’t forget, criminals have access to the internet too with their iPhones, etc. WSB: Perhaps you should consider not allowing comments on current police activities? I am all for free speech, but even you have had to remind posters to limit information. As well meaning as most folks are, they may not realize they may be interfering with an ongoing police action.

In the know April 25, 2009 (8:49 pm)

Nothing like returning from an outing in the park to find people running and screaming on our block. What havoc! Big thank you to the Seattle Police for keeping us safe.