West Seattle, Washington
27 Saturday
Thanks to WSB’er Mike for pointing out that a TV newscast tonight reported murdered Seattle Police Officer Tim Brenton had West Seattle ties. We’re still looking up that story but in the meantime, Officer Brenton’s uncle is quoted in this newly updated Seattle Times (WSB partner) story as saying the family had lived in West Seattle. Working to find out more; here’s our coverage (including video) from this afternoon’s SPD briefing on last night’s deadly shooting and its aftermath. ADDED 10:12 PM: Classmates.com lists Tim Brenton as a 1988 West Seattle High School alum – Officer Brenton was 39, so that would match the time frame. On the WSB Facebook wall, Lisa H comments, “Tim was a good friend. Thank you so much for supporting our officers and for your love and prayers and kindnesses. He left behind a beautiful young daughter and son and his wife … Please keep them in your prayers.“
This afternoon marked not only Joe Mallahan‘s first campaign visit to The Junction since he started running for Seattle Mayor, it also marked what was undoubtedly the first campaign stop at the “Hole Foods” site on the Junction/Triangle border:
More photos from Mallahan’s tour – covered for WSB by contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli – ahead – but first (added 9:33 pm) here’s his video of scenes from the tour:
Two major campaign events in West Seattle today, with just a little over 48 hours to go till the voting ends and the vote-counting begins. One of three West Seattleites on your ballot is Dow Constantine, King County Council chair running for King County Executive in what’s been a tooth-and-nail race against former TV newsperson Susan Hutchison. At a party just wrapping up at West 5 in The Junction – same place we interviewed him in February, the day he started officially campaigning – he rallied supporters and declared his campaign on the threshold of victory. You’ll hear that in the clip above; here (added 7:20 pm) is the rest of the speech, in which he lays out what he believesto be the key differences between himself and his opponent, one more time:
Later, we’ll have coverage from mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan‘s West Seattle walking tour this afternoon. Whoever you’re voting for, get your ballot in the mail by end-of-day Tuesday, or take it to a drop box – the ones in this area are at the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center and White Center Library (full list, with addresses, here).
(photo we sent to Twitter during the briefing, added here 3:46 pm)
ORIGINAL 3:01 PM REPORT: We’re here with the citywide media as the briefing is about to start at police HQ downtown. NWCN is going to televise live, we hear. Our wireless signal is a little spotty here — briefing room is on the lower level – but we will add important info as we can (via Twitter if this signal drops out). BRIEFING: Field Training Officer Tim Brenton (sp?) and Officer Brit Sweeney (sp?) are those involved. No one in custody. Mayor and acting chief Diaz say no one will rest until the killer/s are caught. (added 4:45 pm – video of acting SPD Chief John Diaz’s entire statement)
(added 4:52 pm — video of Mayor Nickels’ entire 2-minute statement, which opened the briefing)
Assistant chief: “This is an assassination.” Officer who survived is described as having taken the actions of a 10-year veteran. If any info, call 206-233-5000 with tips. CrimeStoppers: 206-343-2020. Tips can be anonymous. Vehicle description is no clearer – still remains either a white-ish light blue potentially silver smallish subcompact or compact, per assistant chief. Don’t know if it’s four door or two door. Detectives are “literally scrubbing the city.” Not sure if it was hit by gunfire or not. Using onboard video of every police car that may have been in the area to see if they can find anything. No description of possible suspect/s that can be shared at this time.
3:37 PM: No date for the memorial yet. A fund will be set up shortly for the officer’s family. CrimeStoppers will offer a $20,000 reward. The slain officer has been with the department about 8 years, transferred from LaConner Police; he is the son of a retired Seattle Police officer and also has family ties to the Seattle Fire Department, as well as two children, ages 8 and 11. No photo of him has been released yet. They are not describing Officer Sweeney’s hometown; several police officers are with her, and Assistant Chief Nick Metz says that while she is devastated, she is being a “true professional” and assisting them as best she can with the investigation. (added 5:39 pm – here is our video of the entirety of his statement)
3:41 PM: The briefing is over. We have video of the mayor and acting chief’s statements and will publish those here when we are back at HQ, for those who would like to see them. Bottom line: The killer or killers are still at large, and the police department will work tirelessly – as Assistant Chief Metz said, it’s a business where you don’t get to close down and take a break after a tragedy – to catch them, but your help is important too, if you see or hear anything you feel may help – the killer/s could be anywhere.
4:53 PM: Officer Brenton’s body has been moved to Bonney Watson Funeral Home, with a ceremonial procession as escort, according to Seattle Police via Twitter. We are almost finished uploading our three video clips from this afternoon’s news conference – the entirety of what Acting SPD Chief Diaz, Mayor Nickels, and Assistant Chief Nick Metz had to say; Assistant Chief Jim Pugel also participated in the briefing.
ADDED 5:58 PM: SPD has issued a news release recapping the main points of the briefing – we have cut and pasted it to include here for those who’d like to read it – it does clarify that there is a $21,000 reward, $1K from CrimeStoppers, $20K from the Seattle Police Guild – read on:Read More
Thanks to Diane for the photos and information: The Heavenly Wholesale/Leslie’s storefront in The Junction, east side of California SW south of Alaska, where Funky Jane’s was before moving to California/Oregon, opens this week, 10 am-6 pm Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 am-5 pm Sundays. Here’s Jill, longtime Heavenly proprietor:
The former “Heavenly” storefront in The Triangle is the building where Greg Whittaker of Alki Kayak Tours recently announced they plan to open a storefront. Here’s Leslie, indeed the same Leslie who formerly operated Leslie’s Country Store in the California SW location that is now home to The Bohemian:
Another business note:
First reported in the WSB Forums by “hammerhead” – All the Best Pet Care on Alki is closing. They will have a sale next weekend, and then the last day is currently scheduled as one week from today. All the Best also recently closed its Aurora location, but has others around the city. The Alki shop opened two years ago.
For the second year, a Holiday Toy Swap ‘n’ Sale is in the works for West Seattle – and it’s time to get your donations in – to save money, “green up” your holidays, and give a boost to WestSide Baby, Family Works, and CoolMom, which is again organizing the sale. Last year’s first-ever event was popular, as our photo above shows, and preparations for the encore are well under way. The sale is 9 am-1 pm November 14th at Fauntleroy Church (9140 California SW) but you don’t have to go there to donate – collections are under way at various locations. First, here’s the “how” of it:
1. De-clutter and detach from all the unused toys and gear in that closet/garage.
2. Bag up your items: toys, sports clothes and products, baby gear, etc. (no clothing or car seats)
3. Donate your items at one of our 8 West Seattle locations before 4 pm Wednesday, November 11
4. Include your name on your donation bag (or on a slip of paper inside the bag)
5. Receive a $5 credit toward your purchase on the day of the sale.
6. Come to the sale, redeem your credit, and shop!
Any time before the deadline, take your “quality used toy(s)” donations to any of these locations, where you’ll find a drop bin:
PCC West Seattle (WSB sponsor)
Husky Deli
C&P Coffee
Gatewood Elementary School
Arbor Heights Elementary School
Community School of West Seattle
Pathfinder School
Alki Co-op Preschool
By the way, if you’d like to get involved with CoolMom, the West Seattle group meets the first Wednesday of the month – that’s next Wednesday, Nov. 4 – 7 pm at C & P.
This was announced before the Seattle Police tragedy Saturday night, so we’ll be checking later this morning to make sure it hasn’t changed, but for now: One day after Mike McGinn‘s North Admiral town hall, opponent Joe Mallahan plans to visit West Seattle today. That word comes from Vlad Oustimovitch, who says Mallahan plans to start in The Junction at about 2:30 pm (starting around Easy Street Records), continue on to Youngstown Arts Center around 3:30 pm, and Seacrest Pier around 4, and anyone is welcome to join in, though this is a walking tour rather than a Q/A sitdown.
(Mike McGinn answering a question about working with city councilmembers if he’s elected mayor)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
When the final weekend of a campaign rolls around, a major candidate is often seen in just a few ways – a TV ad, a mailer blitz, shouting amplified exhortations to supporters at one or two last big rallies.
Emblematic of the way Seattle mayoral candidate Mike McGinn has run his campaign, with just a few days to go, he was in the basement of the West Seattle (Admiral) Branch Library on Saturday morning, speaking softly and casually with about a dozen people. We published a quick update on this as it happened, but now, for those who missed it and are still making up their minds, here are the details of what he said, and what he was asked.
Seattle Police have just released their first official statement about the shooting death of an officer in the Central District late last night — a crime that affects the entire city, as the first such murder in the line of duty in Seattle in 15 years, and one that drew officers (including a contingent from West Seattle’s Southwest Precinct) to the scene, where searching and blockading was followed by a somber procession earlier this morning, escorting the slain officer’s body to the Medical Examiner‘s office. Here is the entirety of the statement just published on SPDBlotter:
On October 31st, shortly after 10:00 p.m., a Field Training Officer (FTO) and his female student officer were parked in their patrol car in the 100 Block of 29th Avenue South. The student officer was seated in the driver’s seat and the FTO was in the passenger seat. A vehicle that has been described as a light-colored sedan pulled up next to the parked patrol car and the suspect(s) fired multiple shots into the patrol car. The Field Training Officer was struck multiple times, killing him. The student officer received minor injuries. She was able to get out of the patrol car, return fire several times to the fleeing suspect vehicle, and call for additional units. Officers from all precincts responded, as well as Homicide and CSI. This investigation is very much active and ongoing, and is a priority for the Department. Information is limited at this time, as it is still early in the investigation. There is a press conference tentatively scheduled for later this afternoon, where we hope to provide additional information.
Central District News, one of our fellow independent community-collaborative online news services, has been on the story all night/morning – they have even more details here, and you can watch here for updates. SUNDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: SPD will brief media at 3 pm today downtown. The acting chief, an assistant chief, and mayor will be there, according to the alert we received.
| 2 COMMENTS