Why police, medical examiner were at Roxhill Park/Westwood bus stop

| West Seattle news | Westwood

(WSB photo)

Thanks to everyone who messaged us to ask about police and the medical examiner at the Roxhill Park/Westwood Village bus stop. Here’s what we found out at the scene: Somebody died on a RapidRide C Line bus. The bus driver was going to go take a break when he discovered that a passenger who wasn’t getting off the bus, couldn’t – he was dead. It’s not being investigated as a crime, as there’s no evidence suggesting foul play. All we know at this point is that the dead person is a man, no age estimate.

trickycoolj August 20, 2015 (6:48 pm)

Is this all the sirens for multiple medic response?

WSB August 20, 2015 (7:18 pm)

No, the multiple medic response is the incident involving children falling from a window: https://westseattleblog.com/?p=320467

Donn August 20, 2015 (9:26 pm)

Westwood is getting trashier now that this is turning into a bus terminal. Hopefully this wasn’t a drug related death. I was there yesterday and there was someone having a heroin or other drug overdose on the bench on the south side of QFC, another person was setting up camp in their car in the corner of the parking of Target. When I use the restroom at Target, there are often people bathing in the sinks.

WSB August 20, 2015 (9:36 pm)

Donn, no info on the circumstances of the man’s death, nor where he boarded the bus … I hope to be able to ask the KCSO (they oversee transit police) media-relations sergeant to look up the report for me tomorrow … the cause of death will be up to the KCME to announce, though, not knowing an age or name, we might have a tough time figuring out who he is on the daily list tomorrow or beyond (they announce name, age, city of death, cause of death, but not circumstances).- TR

Really? August 20, 2015 (9:33 pm)

“discovered that the passenger who wasn’t getting off the bus, couldn’t – he was dead.”

Nice.

Really? August 20, 2015 (9:37 pm)

Maybe if you do find out his name you can apologize to the family for the flippant way you reported his death.

WSB August 20, 2015 (9:43 pm)

“Really,” I apologize if it seemed flippant. I write about as basically and simply as possible. I don’t have any further information about the specifics of the circumstances in which he was discovered, nor whether there was any earlier hint of distress, so that’s really all I could say – I just asked Patrick again about what he learned from police, and by their account, it was an abrupt discovery. – Tracy

KBear August 20, 2015 (9:51 pm)

Really, Really? I saw nothing disrespectful or flippant in that story.

aa August 20, 2015 (10:27 pm)

I see nothing flippant. Direct and to the point, basic and simple as WSB said. Saying someone is dead, when they are, is not flip. Its simply devoid of euphemism.

Elisabeth August 20, 2015 (10:43 pm)

I saw nothing disrespectful either, just a reporting of the stark facts from the bus driver’s point of view.

agree August 21, 2015 (1:11 am)

I have to agree with really. It was not stated in quotes, thus it was the authors words rather than the bus drivers. With this being a local news forum it should be approached as if the family/friends are readers. (not that they would find out of the news here, but sensitivity should be applied). Possibly view it like a doctor sharing bad news with the family. I would hope that a doctor wouldn’t report to the family that they thought their patient was sleeping but wouldn’t wake up because “he was dead”. A one or two word phrasing could mean a lot to the audience at hand.

Other circumstances of deceased persons are phrased with particular care. This should have been as well.

Lisa August 21, 2015 (5:47 am)

Good article; thanks for reporting.

WSince86 August 21, 2015 (8:09 am)

Sad, but reads like facts to me.

Bonnie August 21, 2015 (8:33 am)

I didn’t read it as disrespectful or flippant.

CanDo August 21, 2015 (9:05 am)

Rather than flinging accusations and defenses about the writing of this story, maybe we should pause for just a brief moment to think about this unknown man who passed for whatever reason on one of our transit buses with no one noticing until he was gone. It’s a sad and lonely way to exit this life and I wish whomever he was and his family, rest and peace.

Panda August 21, 2015 (9:12 am)

Really? and Agree – Have another sip of coffee and move along. Thanks Tracy for the update.

RIP mystery bus man.

Jon Wright August 21, 2015 (9:17 am)

Disagree that stating the facts is flippant or disrespectful. What sort of flowery language are people expecting?
.
But what really matters is somebody died alone on the bus. I hope they didn’t suffer and I hope they had a good life. Condolences to friends and loved ones left behind.

Kathryn Gordon August 21, 2015 (9:53 am)

Thank you, Tracy, for keeping me informed and for keeping a cool head when others might not. I appreciate all that you do.

Karen August 21, 2015 (10:27 am)

Tracy more respectful than the person who just assumed it was a drug overdose. People die every day of all sorts of causes. maybe this person just fell asleep and had a heart attack and drifted off…

i walked by there right after it happened and all of the responders were very quiet and now i understand why.

pattc August 21, 2015 (10:48 am)

RIP mystery bus man.

The least one can do for someone when one sees a leaning/sleeping/laying person is to watch the rhythm of their breathing for a second or two. The difference between the breath of the sleeping/passed out/labored/no movement at all is big.
There are places to call.

Diane August 21, 2015 (12:38 pm)

agree with CanDo, pattc, Karen, and Jon Wright; “But what really matters is somebody died alone on the bus. I hope they didn’t suffer and I hope they had a good life. Condolences to friends and loved ones left behind.”

Andi August 21, 2015 (1:23 pm)

Good gravy people, what’s next? Trigger warnings on her news articles? Get a grip!

RIP bus passenger. I hope you and your family find peace.

WSB August 21, 2015 (4:44 pm)

A semi-update: KCSO confirmed that Transit Police detected no sign of anything suspicious related to this; they’ve referred the case to Metro for record-keeping or whatever happens to unusual incidents. Checking with the King County DOT, they don’t have an incident report yet but are checking. I asked if the driver would be offered counseling or something … the driver’s supervisor has checked in with him, I’m told. Today’s medical examiner list does not include this case – maybe Monday – so I know nothing more about the man who died. – TR

Joe Szilagyi August 21, 2015 (1:27 pm)

Wow, guys, come on. WSB is like the most objectively neutral newspaper in this entire area (even if I wish she wouldn’t be sometimes!). She’s facts facts facts. That’s literally what she wrote here. Sheesh.

i'mcoveredinbees August 21, 2015 (2:01 pm)

Man, that is sad. I hope this person has family who have been notified. RIP bus dude!

PeaceBeWithYou August 21, 2015 (8:30 pm)

To the family of the man who perished yesterday: He was not alone. Kind and caring hearts and minds were present, professional, concerned, caring, and respectful.

Not a moron August 21, 2015 (10:58 pm)

I have to admit, Really had a valid point – it was insensitive the way Tracy wrote this. I just lost someone close to me and it would have been horrible to read something written in such a flippant manner. I am guessing that Tracy was just doing what she does, and that this is a rare occurrance, still, flippant is an accurate term form the way the facts were presented, and the folks who cried foul were not being jerks about it. A little care in circumstances like this goes a long way. For those who don’t own a dictionary, flame away.

Agree August 22, 2015 (12:01 am)

My point was not to say that facts were missing or misconstrued. It was an issue with the 3 words of “- he was dead”. “Found pulseless”, “determined by medical staff to be deceased”, “had passed away”, etc would have been better options, in my opinion.

Contine your informative reporting TR. You do a hell of a job 99.99% of the time. This, in a rush apparently, fell into the 00.01%. Keep in mind that no matter the cause of death — suicide, homicide, natural, unknown — should all be treated equal. Suicide is always tiptoed upon with verbiage, and this was not.

This will be my last post on this thread because I don’t want to distract from a lost life. I originally posted in hopes that future incidents may be reported with caution rather than to create a side discussion.

Most importantly, Rest In Paradise, bus man, and condolences to the family and friends.

Laura August 22, 2015 (1:33 am)

I would prefer passed away, deceased. More importantly condolences to this mans family. Peace to the bus driver. That would be a very difficult circumstance.

West Seattle Hipster August 22, 2015 (12:54 pm)

Well written artcle WSB, “Seattle Nice” rears it’s ugly head again.

Straight talk is reality people, learn to deal with it.

Cait August 22, 2015 (4:11 pm)

I feel like it’s more disrespectful to nitpick language than to offer condolences but to each their own.

Bradley August 22, 2015 (9:17 pm)

I used to be a bus driver. I feel bad for the driver as well as for the family of the victim. I’m sure the driver was badly shaken after that.

Suzann August 23, 2015 (11:58 am)

The way the news was reported, in my opinion, was insensitive but not so uncommon in these parts. To say truth is a reality is correct but delivery is everything…and don’t worry, I’m trying to leave. I long to get back to a community where manners and being polite are a norm. It is only getting worse here and not because of the homeless people – this, however, is not the appropriate forum to take up this argument. I feel bad for all parties involved and hope that there is some closure soon.