(Anonymous reader-submitted photo, altered to obscure license plate)
We’re checking now on a couple of overnight incidents. First, reports of a car fire around 3 AM on the 3400 block of California Ave SW. Tipsters tell us that there was so much smoke that a few people who live close to the location of the fire had to temporarily evacuate their houses. No word yet from the fire department but we’ll post an update here later if we get any details.
And just before 5 AM, police responded to an assault with deadly weapons call at a house on the 1700 block of SW Brandon. Det. Mark Jamieson of the SPD media unit tells us this morning that one person died there as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
As we’ve said before, suicide is an epidemic that needs to be addressed, not ignored as is the policy of some media, so we report about it here as well as homicide cases (which are outnumbered in King County by suicides). For those who have thought about it — the local Crisis Clinic is there to help: 206/461-3222. There’s a national hotline at 800/SUICIDE.
UPDATE 11:11 AM: We have confirmation now from Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen who says investigators have determined that this fire was intentionally set. Damage to the 1994 Ford Explorer SUV was estimated to be around $3,000.
We also received information this morning that the owners of the SUV, who apparently reside at the address where it was parked, were stopped by police while driving by the scene in another vehicle. We checked with Lt. Norm James at the Southwest Precinct this morning who could confirm only that the Arson Bomb Squad was called to the fire scene to investigate and that it is still an open case. He also said that a “suspicious vehicle” was stopped in the vicinity of the fire and three adults (two males and one female) were arrested for narcotics and subsequently booked into King County Jail.
| 14 COMMENTS