Update: Man shot in the leg in Westwood after robbery attempt

(SCROLL DOWN for Saturday morning update from SPD)

8:55 PM: Police and fire are at 26th and Trenton for an “assault with weapons/aid” call, which usually does not involve a major injury. We are en route to find out more.

9 PM UPDATE: Per scanner, a man in his midtwenties has a gunshot wound to the leg and may have been pistol-whipped. He is on the south side of the athletic complex.

9:19 PM: SFD confirms a non-life-threatening wound. The man is being taken to Harborview. No word on whether anyone is being sought; police are clearing out of the area, and there is no active search under way.

9:55 PM: We’ve left the scene because all the emergency responders have too. We’ll update if we find out anything else, but not sure if that’ll happen tonight.

10:32 PM: Those who heard the early scanner traffic on this say it was reported as a robbery attempt.

8:51 AM SATURDAY: An update this morning from SPD:

An 18-year-old man was shot in the leg last night during an attempted robbery in the 2600 Block of SW Trenton. The injury is not life-threatening.

Last night, at around 8:35 pm, the victim stated that he was walking through the athletic field when three unknown males approached him, one armed with a gun. The victim told officers that the men attempted to take his backpack, but the victim held onto it. The suspects assaulted the victim and shot him in the right calf. After the shot was fired, the suspects fled without any of the victim’s belongings. The victim began yelling for assistance and neighbors called 911. Officers conducted an area check but did not locate the suspects. The victim received medical treatment for his injury. Gang Unit detectives responded and will conduct the follow-up investigation.

Laura March 8, 2013 (8:59 pm)

I wonder if that is why I’ve been hearing sirens for the past 20ish minutes in the Fauntleroy area?

WSB March 8, 2013 (9:13 pm)

We are at the scene and yes, a fair amount of lights/sirens. We were in Admiral when we saw the battalion chief heading this way. so we diverted back here.

Resident3 March 8, 2013 (9:05 pm)

I’m curious how much would it really increase the rent for all the Westwood shops to collaboratively hire a security guard to constantly patrol the lots? Seems like if there was constantly a presence the mischief might be discouraged.

sophista-tiki March 8, 2013 (9:21 pm)

Ive seen security guys at Westwood

JL March 8, 2013 (9:27 pm)

Resident3, this incident occurred in the ball fields just north of Westwood Village. I don’t want to come off as insensitive – but it’s no surprise, really. Those fields are a popular hangout for rowdy groups of young folks on Friday and Saturday nights – but only when the big lights are turned off. My neighbors and I have complained to SPD, and to Seattle Public Schools (who actually owns the property), and the Southwest Teen Life Center (whose late night programs draw the kids to the area), but no one wants to hear about it. Let’s hope this incident is a wake-up call.

M. March 8, 2013 (9:30 pm)

9:25, still more units headed south on 35th.

WSB March 8, 2013 (9:51 pm)

The additional units were going to a call at 24th/Kenyon. The scene on this was completely cleared as of about 15 minutes ago – no police, no fire.

Resident1 March 8, 2013 (9:32 pm)

He was shot inside the baseball fields next to Westwood village, I helped the police locate him as I could hear him yelling for help from my home.

heidi March 8, 2013 (9:49 pm)

Still hearing lots of sirens in this area, maybe on Delridge. Now what?

ABS March 8, 2013 (9:57 pm)

I heard that guy yelling too. Was walking my dog a block away. Heard gunshots on that field a few nights ago, too…

WSB March 8, 2013 (10:03 pm)

For those hearing sirens – there are other medic calls in the area – here’s the 911 log
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http://www2.cityofseattle.net/fire/realTime911/getRecsForDatePub.asp?action=Today&incDate=&rad1=des
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We’re back at HQ and monitoring the scanner, nothing of magnitude so far, just a busy night …

mookie March 8, 2013 (10:22 pm)

@JL Have you attended the Crime Prevention meetings at the SW Precinct and raised the issue there to get some answers? Over the scanner I’ve heard SPD notice and coordinate breaking up/moving along “large groups of non-students” hanging out in that area before, at 26th/Thistle just a couple days ago. Like with the predators stalking Roxhill Park, maybe this situation needs to be raised with SPD repeatedly in a forum with community members present to get answers and a response.
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The Late Night for Teens at the community center are to give teens a safe alternative place to hang out and enjoy activities; is it your impression from living nearby that troublemakers are attending the late nights, or that opportunistic thugs are drawn there to prey on kids? From listening to the scanner tonight it sounded like shooting victim was attacked by two guys who wanted his cell phone and headphones, and he got shot when he didn’t want to hand them over.
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With the city’s Predictive Policing system coming online this month, maybe keep up the complaints of suspicious activity and any on view crimes and more attention will be allocated to this area. Fingers crossed.

oz March 8, 2013 (10:24 pm)

come on people are you guys really surprised by all this. these punks are so out of control. its nothing new in that area.

Westseattledood March 8, 2013 (10:36 pm)

I happen to drive right by there around 3:00 pleased to see all the baseball players in their Sealth blue on their way to the field a stone’s throw to the west. A few minutes prior, however, I had travelled east bound on the street in front of the school – a patrol car with an officer was parked on the dead end directly north of that area. Now I am wondering… Is SPD routinely parked there now (on the north field dead end) when school dismisses? If so, how long have they had a unit visible?

Call 911 – anonymously if you want – to report sketchy jumpy crowds or individuals hanging around or giving you or your neighbors and friends concern.
Why? Because maybe you will stop somebody from getting a leg blown out – or worse – for a stupid phone.

Your community, friends and families need your help. They are out there keeping an eye out for YOUR well-being and safety. Do the right thing and call 911 to keep all of us safer.

WSB March 8, 2013 (10:43 pm)

Yes, SPD is always at Sealth and WSHS when class lets out. Has been that way for a long time.

westwoodmom March 8, 2013 (10:37 pm)

I live in the westhaven apartments at Holden and 24th and use to love walking with my infant through the field to Westwood village till there were several instances where a rowdy group of teens (all dressed in black and red and most smoking) were gathered on the risers (during school hours, mind you). I felt pretty intimidated and no longer feel safe going that way anymore.

Jim P. March 8, 2013 (10:43 pm)

I think that athletic field counts as an “attractive nuisance” and either needs much better fencing or some sort of security.

It gets pretty rowdy on summer nights too.

Maybe cousins of the nasty drunks reported here the other night.

The point March 8, 2013 (10:47 pm)

@oz none of the comments so far seem to warrant a “c’mon guys” or anyone seeming “surprised” or not. There are some interesting first hand experiences and useful suggestions here though.

Neighbor March 8, 2013 (11:00 pm)

Hey, WSB. Any new word on the call at 24th and Kenyon? I live right there and my neighbor called to tell me about a heavy response to what he believed was a dead body. We’re both looking for some clarification. Thanks!!

WSB March 8, 2013 (11:29 pm)

“Neighbor” – there are two sets of tea leaves I can read. Number 1, it was an “aid response” – lowest-level medical response, not even a medic unit sent, “only” (not to denigrate them) an engine. Number 2, the police auto-tweet that appears to relate to the same time/place calls it a “disturbance.” Why did your neighbor think there was a body?

Westseattledood March 8, 2013 (11:10 pm)

Thanks for responding, and pardon my ignorance, but I am curious – what period of time is “a long time”? Thanks.

concerned March 8, 2013 (11:11 pm)

This did not occur in Westwood Village and there is Security on the premesis for well over 100 hours a week.

This robbing of kids’ electronics has got to stop but we have told our kids to give up everything and this is exactly why.

WSB March 8, 2013 (11:25 pm)

Westwood in the headline refers to the community, not the shopping center, which we refer to as Westwood Village, full name on all references.

Neighbor March 8, 2013 (11:56 pm)

Thanks for your response, WSB. My neighbor saw the body. He was home at the time and saw “3 police cars, 2 firetrucks, and an ambulance. And a motionless white body lying face up on the sidewalk with a yellow plastic sheet covering his whole body.” We have no idea if the person was just being tended to or if he was deceased or what was happening. We’d love to know if you find anything out.

ron March 9, 2013 (6:05 am)

Sad to see these scum bags taking over our area.
Maybe we could create a law allowing the police to arrest people dressed like gangsters…
Or change welfare rules such that if someones child is caught in gang activity they lose all housing aid and welfare.
I would love to see delridge wiped clean of all the projects where these rats live.

w.s. maverick March 9, 2013 (8:24 am)

bad place around these parts. just a reminder to stay armed and protect yourself and loved ones

bestbets March 9, 2013 (9:27 am)

Ron, do you live in Delridge? Is there a particular building you are speaking of that is rat infested that needs attention? I am sure you are not calling people “rats” because I know as a West Seattleite that people who live in Delridge are my neighbors, and neighbors need to look out for one another to prevent exploitation by others, as in the robbery above – not be judged as criminal or non-human because they are poor in resources. Hope they catch the guys who robbed the man last night.

helridge March 9, 2013 (9:36 am)

Ron I think the problem is lack of discipline, thugs get away with murder in this city.

Defensive March 9, 2013 (9:39 am)

Sorry to get defensive on everyone but I get a little tired of hearing how bad Delridge is and well what do you expect from that area, and take their welfare away and maybe it would clean everything up. Growing up in “The Admiral District” on 44th and College was not a walk in the park. There was bullying and harassment in that area; kids doing and selling drugs, drinking in the parks and so on. Also the crime rate is higher there than it is here. The Admiral District might be a little better dressed than the Delridge neighborhood I now reside (not on welfare by the way) but I will tell you my kids have grown up down here and have had less trouble with people in this neighborhood then they have had in THE ADMIRAL DISTRICT where they attend school!! So I will agree with “GET TO THE POINT” and let’s try to keep our comments to first hand experiences and useful information… My sympathy to the person who was assaulted and hope he has a speedy recovery.

WSB March 9, 2013 (9:59 am)

What they said. PLEASE stop with the neighborhood stereotyping. The last three murders in West Seattle – two last year and the preceding one from 2011 – were in Admiral and Morgan Junction and on Beach Drive. Violence can and does happen everywhere.

Westseattledood March 9, 2013 (10:05 am)

Just to make clear to certain impressionable people who might be reading –

W.s. Maverick – carrying weapons is most *certainly* not the conclusion I have come to about how to conduct *myself* in public.

These are adolescent kids in a couple of different gangs which are encroaching upon SW Seattle. What seems a new dynamic is that a particular downtown gang (known as one of the more violence prone in downtown) has arrived in WS. I know because I have gone down on the streets and talked to people – kids, neighbors, shop owners. SPD and media don’t broadcast these truths directly, I have been told by regional reporters, because “we don’t want to give them credit”. I think the consequence is few people realize how much pervasive gang activity is responsible.

This is a relatively new development for our area – meaning the County. I think people who move here from larger urban areas where such gang related problems and violence in general are common seem to be pretty cynical. That is its own tragedy, I think. But beyond my capacity to change.

Adults, in my world view and the view of many others, should be modeling positive COPING behaviors – NOT capitulating to an assumption of conflict resolution by gun fire.

Right now, however, I would just hope that neighbors call SPD to report everything they see which rubs them the wrong way so more patrols get allocated to the streets these punks are trying to control by intimidation.

That is what I hope.

WTF March 9, 2013 (3:28 pm)

Wow. Wonder if those “demeaning, civil rights executing” surveillance cameras would have helped find who shot this guy. From a law abiding, tax paying, citizen’s vantage point I’m guessing that if you carry a gun, attempt to rob someone with it, and shoot them (whether intentionally or accidentally), you ARE up to NO good and quite frankly a criminal, and we should STOP AT NOTHING to figure out how to eliminate violent crime ANYWHERE in our community.
And, before you get your liberal boxers in a knot, YES I am suggesting these types of devises do help solve crime.

datamuse March 9, 2013 (4:00 pm)

So we’re against cameras but in favor of arresting anyone dressed a certain way.
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It’s so hard to keep up.

evergreen March 9, 2013 (5:52 pm)

There are countless gangs in this city, mostly comprised of male youth. I worked at the King County Jail for a while, and it seemed that a significant portion of the inmates were gang members for violent crime. Lots of drugs, almost everyone tests positive for at least 2 substances, though frequently several more. There are posters in the jail that show the tattoos and names used by each gang, so that officers can identify which inmates cannot be placed in the same cell (ie.rival gangs). There are gang tags in many places in West Seattle. A lot of these gang members are barely adults, some still early teens, and most have experienced trauma from their own families. They are so wounded, find identity and acceptance in their gang identity, and have nothing to lose in committing crimes since it provides them status among their peers…this is such a huge problem, and it’s frightening that a more violent gang has recently staked turf in our neighborhood.

sophista-tiki March 9, 2013 (7:32 pm)

um since when is Westwood considered Delridge???.

WsEd March 9, 2013 (8:26 pm)

Why don’t the cops set up stings anymore? Where is Elliot Ness when you need him. Seriously though West Seattle is becoming unwalkable at night. Maybe they should move one or two of those cameras to the ballfield. This new gang element is a serious problem and if you think it only affects those east pic 35th, think again.

joel March 9, 2013 (9:07 pm)

evergreen…why not put the different bangers in a cell together? let them go at it until the last one is standing. our courts just let them go and if the legal system can’t fix the problem let the bangers take care of each other. could be entertainment for the other convicts and then take away the cable and ping pong tables to save on tax dollars.

Ace20604 March 9, 2013 (10:32 pm)

People need to exercise their inalienable right to defend themselves. My people these days will not, creates a predator prey environment. Once a predator has tasted human they are no longer timid.
People understand love compassion and community, predators only responded to strength. To all those that would be sheepdogs is time to step-up.

J March 9, 2013 (11:17 pm)

I agree it’s time we started telling these thugs that our neighborhoods are not their playgrounds for violence. Please attend your local councils and get involved. The more we work together, the more resilient we shall become. We have to make a stand, or this will just continue.

McBride March 10, 2013 (1:41 am)

Sophis-Tika,
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Delridge is one of the 13 neighborhood districts in Seattle. It is (roughly) the eastern half of the West Seattle peninsula, from Harbor Island to White Center, with 35th as the dividing line.
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This being the case, Delridge and Westwood are both accurate identifiers, the latter being more specific. It’s akin to saying Ballard when discussing Market Street.

anonyme March 10, 2013 (4:37 pm)

I work in this area and haven’t felt safe or comfortable in a while. This incident sounds like the same group that has taken over Roxhill. They’re arrested numerous times and then let go almost immediately.

I’ve never seen security at Westwood Village either. The bus bulb has become a hangout at the Barton entrance to Roxhill.