Update: Man shot in Westwood, suspect arrested

(Photo by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
2:25 AM: Big response right now to the 9200 block of 30th SW (map). Scanner traffic has reported someone with a gunshot wound to the shoulder. There’s a report of the suspect being in a silver van and having possibly been involved in a disturbance in the area earlier; possible physical description – white man, twenties, yellow sweatshirt, light-colored pants.

2:39 AM: The victim is now reported to be a 30-year-old man with one gunshot wound to the chest and is being rushed to Harborview Medical Center. A police K9 team is helping with the search.

2:49 AM UPDATE: Our crew has talked with Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams at the scene. He says they’re considering this a “drive-by.”

3:36 AM UPDATE: Word’s come over police radio that a suspect is in custody. Witnesses had provided a potential ID that was broadcast earlier – this was not believed to be random – but jail-register information can lag a few hours, so we may not be able to confirm till later today if that’s the same person they have in custody.

9:08 AM UPDATE: New information from police, via SPD Blotter:

A man was shot following a fight disturbance this morning. Just shortly after 2:00 a.m., the victim was walking with some of his friends in the 9200 block of 30th Av SW on the sidewalk in front of a house. Some of the people from the house, including the suspect, came outside. The victim began fighting with the suspect out in the yard/sidewalk.

One of the people from the house had a handgun on his belt. The suspect took the gun and shot the victim in the chest. The suspect then gave the gun back and drove off in his (suspectā€™s) car.

The victim was taken to HMC, where the doctors were able to stabilize him. His condition is unknown at this time.

The officers learned the name of the suspect, and were able to find his address on Queen Anne. They went to his house, and arrested him without incident. The suspect was booked into King County Jail for Investigation of Assault. It is unknown what precipitated the fight disturbance between the victim and suspect or if they knew one another.

30 Replies to "Update: Man shot in Westwood, suspect arrested"

  • d October 6, 2012 (2:31 am)

    Approx 25-30 minutes ago, I heard a shot fired but audible police response (two cars, separately, in close succession, by my count, just ten minutes ago. Now another vehicle has been dispatched and is on scene.

    I’m only two streets away–a little too close for comfort, in my book–hope they catch suspect soon.

  • Karla October 6, 2012 (2:43 am)

    I checked out WSB on the off chance that I’d learn what the dozen or so police cars were screaming down 35th for, but expecting to have to wait until morning. Boy am I impressed! Thank you WSB for never sleeping :)

  • Catherine R. October 6, 2012 (2:43 am)

    After I heard a pop, there was about 10 cars that drove through the neighborhood. Unusual because it was quiet before that, so 10 cars going by within 1min of the shooting is suspicious!

  • rocky raccoon October 6, 2012 (3:04 am)

    What is the significance of classifying it as a “drive-by”? And if it was a drive-by, how is a K-9 going to help? Just wondering.

    • WSB October 6, 2012 (3:10 am)

      That the gunshot was fired from a passing vehicle rather than with a person standing there. Don’t know for sure re: the K-9 but there was some suggestion they might have an idea who they were looking for and that he might have been in the area.

  • Catherine October 6, 2012 (3:13 am)

    Any ID on the victim? I can’t imagine this happening over here, this street is quiet most of the time. :\

  • rocky raccoon October 6, 2012 (3:18 am)

    Roger that. Good work, WSB!

    • WSB October 6, 2012 (3:36 am)

      Arrest reported! Adding to story. Catherine – no, the only info on the victim is the medical info monitored via scanner, mentioning that he is 30 (sometimes that is an approximate age).

  • Catherine October 6, 2012 (3:53 am)

    Got a phone call from a friend, I know the person who was shot. But letting them have their privacy, so I can not say the victims name. But hope that the arrested suspect is the person they are looking for!
    (Edited to add)
    Also they are not letting anyone in, so they have no word of what is happening.

  • kayo October 6, 2012 (6:27 am)

    So fed up with gun violence in this city. Glad they caught the perp at least.

  • bridge to somewhere October 6, 2012 (8:40 am)

    that street is really quiet–this is very strange.

  • MB October 6, 2012 (8:44 am)

    Ugh…30 year old male shot in West Seattle (down the street from my house no less), I hate waking up to hear that. Now all you can do is wait to hear if its someone you know ;( @Catherine, sorry to hear it was a friend of yours. I hope that regardless how or why this happened, that he will be ok.

  • WSBisthebest October 6, 2012 (10:11 am)

    Incredible hard news reporting WSB! I would give you an award if I could. SeaTimes has it on their front page today.

    This is a sad story for sure. Split second egoic decisions to use guns lead to lifetimes of unnecessary suffering.

    • WSB October 6, 2012 (10:19 am)

      WSBis – only KING was at the scene with us last night; everybody else will have something today based on the news release (which we have added at the bottom here), sent around a few minutes before we added it. Just a datapoint. I was still up working on a high-school-football story (which isn’t done yet!) when I heard the sirens … and woke up the photographer.

  • G October 6, 2012 (10:51 am)

    I spend half a year in LA and I’ll tell you quite honestly that Seattle is losing it, folks.

  • carlton October 6, 2012 (11:30 am)

    Nothing good happens after midnight.Good ol Delridge!

  • Todd October 6, 2012 (11:46 am)

    Yup

  • fiona enzo October 6, 2012 (12:34 pm)

    Thanks for dedicated reporting WSB.

  • Tobias October 6, 2012 (2:54 pm)

    Maybe losing it, but Seattle’s got a long way to go to compete with LA. Lived there for 18 years before moving here in 09. Always sad to see this stuff though….

  • CCP October 6, 2012 (4:03 pm)

    Incedents like this give us law abiding gun owners the bad rap that is associated with handguns. I hope the man who was shot makes a full recovery, and I hope that justice is served.

  • Scott October 6, 2012 (4:37 pm)

    It’s too bad that alot of people have very poor impulse control and a lack of anger management skills; these types of people have no business owning or being anywhere near a gun.

  • Catherine October 6, 2012 (4:45 pm)

    All I know right now is that he was shot in the chest, close to the lungs I believe. I have no word on if he’s going to make a full recovery but does anyone know why it took 20mins for police to arrive? Was there an accident somewhere? Because I thought they would of arrived quicker considering the police station is not that far from here.

  • WSB October 6, 2012 (5:09 pm)

    Catherine – did someone involved say it took 20 minutes? While our first report is timestamped 2:25 am, 5 minutes after the fire dispatch at 2:20 am
    .
    http://www2.cityofseattle.net/fire/realTime911/getRecsForDatePub.asp?action=Today&incDate=&rad1=des
    .
    and the SPD Blotter account lists the incident as beginning “shortly after 2 am,” that doesn’t mean there was a 20-min lag – the police account certainly telescopes the amount of time that might have elapsed, and the real question would be when they were called. Fire and police were certainly dispatched simultaneously … my first hint of this was a police car speeding past our house (we are on a major arterial not too far away) and I heard the sirens in the distance, leading me to check the 911 log.

  • Catherine October 6, 2012 (5:54 pm)

    Yeah, a friend said it took about 20mins. She may of thought they were called already though and didn’t realise they were not called. Or it could of felt like 20mins when in reality could of been 5mins.

  • G October 6, 2012 (6:26 pm)

    It’s interesting to see this story unfold through a different lens…

  • Mike Flynn October 7, 2012 (2:06 pm)

    Response time is useful (and I’m hoping it was closer to the 5 minutes WSB reports and not the 20 some are saying), but even better is patrolling, which has a preventive effect.

    Credit for any speedy response these days must be given to the efforts made in the 1990s to bring a precinct here TO West Seattleā€¦ Dan Wiseman of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce worked tirelessly to make that happen. Until then, police response needed to come from across the bridge.

  • Uncle Joe October 8, 2012 (5:59 pm)

    Prayers go out to another victim of Washington’s open-carry law.

  • CCP October 8, 2012 (10:39 pm)

    Looked at the jail roster, was wondering if anyone knows what this means? INV ASSAULT-C B NOTE

  • CCP October 9, 2012 (5:32 pm)

    Looked at roster again the suspect was released on bail.

    • WSB October 9, 2012 (5:40 pm)

      Yup, saw that, about an hour and a half ago. No indication that charges have been filed, but I need to doublecheck that with prosecutors tomorrow.

Sorry, comment time is over.