Update: Assault with weapons call; Trenton reopened

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ORIGINAL REPORT: Just arrived at the 29th/Trenton assault with weapons call. More shortly. Trenton is blocked eastbound -westbound traffic is still getting by. 7 PM UPDATE: Scene cleared quickly – someone was being transported in an ambulance (which generally means less-serious injuries than if someone was transported in an aid/medic unit – the officer at the scene said he had to follow the ambulance. We’ve got a call to the media unit looking for more details. Trenton is now back open both ways.

A June 9, 2010 (7:01 pm)

Lots of cops and a handcuffed kid – 30th and Henderson

stu June 9, 2010 (7:10 pm)

Two BLACK youths getting arrested 30th Ave. Definately a violent crime 1 block from a middle school. Lock and load folks, it’s up to you to protect yourself and family.

Jesse June 9, 2010 (7:14 pm)

I saw quite a bit of this happen as I was driving home from work. There is a small parking lot at the end of 29th at the school that leads to the small annex buildings where I saw this start. As I drove down the hill on Cloverdale to 29th I noticed a group of kids were in this parking lot. As I got closer I saw they were fighting. When I turned onto 29th they were running down 29th in the direction I was going. As they reached 29th and Trenton the fighting began again, looking as if many kids just hitting one specific individual. A blue Ford Mustang stopped which I thought was to help, but more kids piled out and appeared to join in. Shortly after this on-lookers from the ball park chased the kids away with the police following soon after.

I disappoints me to see this behavior in my neighborhood.

WSB June 9, 2010 (7:16 pm)

Thanks for the reports. I ran over as fast as I could – this is a very busy night for meetings and we have four people scattered around the area (including me) to report on them, but of course breaking news takes precedence. Scenes really don’t clear that fast that often – I have messages out to the police now in two different places in hopes of getting an official update one way or another – TR

WS Steve June 9, 2010 (7:18 pm)

It’s funny how much more afraid I am of Stu than of this incident.

Molly June 9, 2010 (7:24 pm)

Blue mustang is still parked on 7100 block of 29th. Police are present.

Scott June 9, 2010 (7:39 pm)

The Blue car came down my ally and about hit my car when it had to turn around as the ally doesn’t go through. I hope they get all the kids involved.

shane June 9, 2010 (8:00 pm)

Just had a bunch of sirens screaming up Holden again near the station….any idea whats up?

WSB June 9, 2010 (8:05 pm)

It’s a med 7 at 2600 SW Holden, which is Navos …

blue June 9, 2010 (8:24 pm)

Yeah, WS Steve is right, being a statistic is cooler than being prepared. Tool

bridge to somewhere June 9, 2010 (8:38 pm)

STEP IT UP SPD! things are getting violent in south west seattle. 29th AVE SW seems to be a common denominator . . .

miws June 9, 2010 (9:18 pm)

stu, since these youths have been arrested, and aren’t still out roaming around, please explain to us why identifying their race is relevant.

Mike

d June 9, 2010 (10:16 pm)

Everybody around there is on Block Watch, right? If not, ask yourselves why not.

Sorry, but there are no valid excuses to not have a BW when good neighbors are at risk. Is there?

Block Watch is not the cure, but guns and burglar alarms are not necessarily solutions to incredibly complex situations either.

Know your neighbors. Report suspicious activity on your street.

Report. Report. Report.

Find your Block Watch Captain.
Join your Block Watch.
Start a Block Watch.

Be a better neighbor. The neighbor you don’t know just might be the person who could save your home, your property, your family member, maybe even your life.

Think about that.

Randall June 9, 2010 (10:49 pm)

So those were gunshots, eh? Wow.

Softball games must go on, however.

J June 10, 2010 (12:59 am)

I saw the car in my alley off of Kenyon, must have been right after Scott. I got the license and called 911. Hope that helped them zero in on the fools.

WSB June 10, 2010 (1:03 am)

For any other late-nighters, we didn’t get answers from any place we tried tonight. Should be able to fix that in the morning, and will update this item – TR

M June 10, 2010 (6:17 am)

To “d”… yes there is a block watch, yes we were all on the phone calling the police, yes we all do look out for each other. Just to be clear these weren’t our neighborhood children causing this disturbance.
What’s your beef?
I also agree with stu 100%.

warren June 10, 2010 (7:21 am)

WE need to hound the mayor over and over till police get active on these issues. None of us want this escalating and I can see why being armed seems like a comforting solution however, how about making the police we pay for accountable, setting up auto complaint to the news media and keeping up our vigilince. Politicians want to be reelected, maybe we can import the thugs to their neighborhood and that will get the police to reprioritize. Had a burglary years ago in west seattle and Bellevue, guess what Bellevue dusted , did fingerprints and caught the bastards. In west seattle could barely get the police to do a report. We need to make them accountable to us

HolyKow June 10, 2010 (9:27 am)

Stu has a bit of bravado, but his point is accurate. Look at the crime watch page just for this year, geez, just the last couple of months!

Off the top of my head:

Lady brutally stabbed infront of her child in High Point

Kid assaulted on the basketball court in High Point

Child beaten by gang of youth, hate crime because he was white if all reports are believed

dozens of break-ins

People chased in the park

People beaten in the park

And then there is that guy blowing that FREAKIN HORN in Lincoln park, a violent crime against my hearing….

and this incident with gangs of kids beating a single individual and more joining out of moving cars on the way by.

If you wanna carry a gun, find, get a license and take a class (please god, take a class).

If you don’t wanna carry a gun, that is fine too.

But, be prepared. Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.

White Center Gardener June 10, 2010 (10:35 am)

With all this going on around Westwood – makes you kind of feel safe to live in White Center these days.

d June 10, 2010 (1:49 pm)

M –

I understand the frustration when this stuff happens. I have no beef with people who have organized BW’s and have made really admirable efforts to strengthen and secure their streets and reduce everyone’s vulnerabilities. Big kudo’s and congratulations to your street’s BW. It seems to me that the alert observers there who reported to 911 with specific, timely information are what made the difference in finding the bad guys. Somebody stepped up and did the right thing. Your street seems with the program. Bravo.

My comment is addressed to those on other streets who don’t step up, who don’t pay attention, who are indifferent or fearful (especially the fearful or frustrated) about reporting to 911 and their BW Captains. Those folks who don’t participate and don’t report are part of some of the problems, to a certain extent. Unfortunately, if city-wide statistics can be extrapolated locally, only about 35% of WS is organized into BW’s. THAT’s who I am talking to and why I bring it up constantly. Room for improvement? Yeah, just a little bit.

From the other side of the equation, if folks want more cops on the street in WS, if folks want SPD to address these “group” violence issues or inform you of any other specific issues, voice your questions and concerns directly to those where it might have an impact.

City Council, Mayor, Police Chief and, more locally, the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council and the West Seattle Block Watch Captains’ Network are two other venues for connecting with SPD and other BW Captains to share knowledge of problems and how to act effectively to move toward better solutions.

BW Streets “partner” with SPD and EACH OTHER to collect information, evidence and to identify and manage certain kinds of problems. SPD NEEDS more BW’s to HELP. In the current financial climate, the absence of unlimited resources for sufficient hiring of officers makes it a no-brainer about why no-cost BW groups, block by block, make obvious sense as a place to begin and explore.

So, folks who don’t have a Block Watch yet, consider making some inquiries about what needs to be done to start one. That’s all.