West Seattle Crime Watch followup: Video shows gunfire at busy intersection, as investigation continues

“I can’t stand that this is happening in my neighborhood. We have kids walking around. Screw these guys.” So wrote Colton Lloyd in the WSB comment that informed us he had uploaded that surveillance video to YouTube, showing the December 15th gunfire outside Seamart at 16th and Holden in Highland Park. We reported on the incident that day, while police were searching; they found shell casings outside the store, and found a possible suspect vehicle in White Center, but we had few other details until now. After seeing the surveillance video that Colton, an employee, posted, we followed up with SPD and obtained the official report, which has more details, including what officers found at the scene besides casings:

The report written by a patrol officer says the call came in reporting that a “complainant saw someone shoot a gun and drove off in a car on 16th Avenue SW.” Upon arrival, Seamart’s owner agreed to show the surveillance video to the officer, who writes:

The video showed a dark Green Chevrolet Suburban pull in the front of the store and then park. Minutes later two males exited the vehicle and entered the store. The two males purchased items in the store and then headed back out to their vehicle. Minutes later video surveillance showed a white Ford Explorer pull into the parking lot of (the store). A B/M wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and black hat exits the vehicle and makes contact with the driver of the Chevrolet Suburban. The video shows the two males talking. Moments later the male in the Ford Explorer begins to punch the male who was sitting in the driver seat. The passenger of the Chevrolet Suburban then gets out of the vehicle and pulls out a pistol. The unidentified male then walks around the back of the Chevrolet Suburban and fires several shots at the male. The male from the Ford Explorer then takes off running across the street and attempts to get back into the Ford Explorer. The Ford Explorer did not stop and the male takes off running E/B on SW. Holden St. The Ford Explorer made a left hand turn down an alley way located next to the Seattle Fire Department.

After reviewing the video surveillance the shooter appeared to be a B/M, late 20’s to early 30’s, approximately 6’4, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with red lining, white shirt, black pants, and black shoes. The driver appeared to be a B/M, late 20’s to early 30’s, approximately 5’9, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans. Officers conducted a thorough area check for the suspects and suspect vehicle but were unable to locate.

The report goes on to say that officers spoke with witnesses on the scene. While there, one officer found three .45-caliber shell casings under a vehicle in the parking lot; another officer was told the white Explorer had dropped a “black container” at the entrance to the alley. Police found it and reported that it contained “ninety-one pills of oxycodone, and 5.2 grams of cocaine.”

Today, we also asked SPD media-relations Officer Lauren Lovanhill, who obtained the report at our request, if anything else had happened in the case in the ensuing two weeks. She says, “So we have identified the shooter and seized the firearm used in this incident. No arrests have been made and the investigation is still ongoing,” adding that investigators are “still looking for more information,” so if you know anything additional, please contact police and refer to case 15-434317.

11 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch followup: Video shows gunfire at busy intersection, as investigation continues"

  • PSC617 December 29, 2015 (4:47 pm)

    When caught in the middle of a shoot out, one should attempt to take cover immediately. Stray .45 rounds will easily penetrate walls and even most car doors and almost assuredly windows. Do your best to remain calm, stay behind cover, use available concealment, and call 911 as soon as it is safe to do so. There is no need to hurry–Police won’t get there anytime soon. Stay calm and do your best to remove yourself from the area immediately. Best of luck, Neighbors. Head on a swivel–it’ll get worse before it gets better…if it ever does.

  • JayDee December 29, 2015 (5:32 pm)

    We need to upgrade our surveillance cameras because I cannot believe that they didn’t get the license plate of the Suburban. This is a video of a video, hopefully the original is better. While I oppose police random surveillance I support citizens/business owners use of it. One is Big Brother and Sauron, the other is a neighbor. My two cents.

  • willbehonest December 29, 2015 (5:34 pm)

    Seems like the shooter may have been defending himself against an assault? That might be why no arrest yet.

  • Colton Lloyd December 29, 2015 (7:03 pm)

    Hey I’m the video guy. Yeah the original video isn’t much better quality. The cops tried making out the license but couldnt. We just have your basic surveillance, not the super HD. That gets pricey and our store is a very small business. We only have 3 employees. (But hey, we have almost 200 different kinds of beer, come check us out!) Best stop for craft beer!)

    And as for the defending from assault, I don’t think that’s it at all. He pulled the gun after the guy was already moving away. Shooting at a guys back while he runs away would never count as self defense. There’s probably been no arrest cause they laying low.

  • Kravitz December 29, 2015 (8:17 pm)

    Sick and tired of this crap. To pull a gun this way in broad daylight, front and center at the entry of a business tells me this POS has zero regard for human life. Furthermore, finding 91 pills of oxycodone and cocaine at the scene… all I can say is that with any luck these thugs will end up in jail or 6 ft under before Seattle rings in the new year.

  • JayDee December 29, 2015 (8:21 pm)

    Sorry about my comment — My cell phone has great video (if I could figure it out..) I was assuming that the installed video was pre-HDTV but maybe the the more typical video (2015) video would be better.

  • Alan December 29, 2015 (11:49 pm)

    Colton – Thanks for providing this. I agree that there is no way that the shooter was defending himself. He was just shooting at the guy that stole his drugs.

    I imagine that the police have done their part and are now waiting on the prosecutor. The wording is a little vague, but “identified the shooter and seized the firearm” suggests that they have not yet had contact with the shooter. Hopefully an arrest will happen sometime soon.

  • AIDM December 30, 2015 (1:24 pm)

    @JayDee, this is an idea I’ve often thought could be useful in neighborhoods such as West Seattle: largely middle class but struggling with crime and gangs due to indigent pockets. A civilian network of high resolution security cameras could be very powerful. Ideally, they would sync hourly to the NIST atomic clock over the internet and gunshot triangulation (via audio machine learning algorithms) might even be possible. Could be a fun project for one of the Hack for Seattle Meetup groups.

  • MD December 30, 2015 (2:07 pm)

    @Colton Lloyd

    Actually HD cameras are really affordable. I’m willing to bet your smartphone costs more than the price of upgrading your cameras to HD.

    Maybe the neighborhood will pitch in and help pay for the costs. Better cameras are a good deterrent for criminals, and will only increase the overall safety of your establishment. This would be a big plus to the neighborhood regulars who have been scared off by this incident.

    Better cameras will also help you cover you own butt to help avoid a possible lawsuit if something goes bad again. Imagine if this gun fight had happened inside the store. As a business owner its a no-brainer.

    http://www.amazon.com/Amcrest-AMDV960H4-4B-Video-Security-System/dp/B00PMEG8YQ/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1451512093&sr=1-5&keywords=hd+security+camera&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011

  • None your business December 30, 2015 (5:48 pm)

    If someone gets caught discharging a gun in a public place they should get sentenced to 10 years for each bullet they shoot. What happened to people just fighting one on one? Put the guns down and your fist up and stop being a bitch. Even if your being robbed if your not man enough to protect yourself with your hands then you have no business trying to be drug dealer. Just because you choose to make stupid choices in life doesn’t mean you have to put other people’s lives in danger. I’m just saying when you decide to shoot a gun in public the chance of an innocent bystander getting hit with a stray bullet is very high. Start using your f—-n head.

  • Colton Lloyd December 30, 2015 (10:01 pm)

    Eh, I’m just the 24 year old employee. My boss is a bit of a penny pincher, but who can blame him in this economy. Really, I don’t think fancier cameras are any kind of deterrent. How do they know are fancy? They’re probably whacked out on meth. And if something happened in the store, our cameras are sufficient. It’s not like you have to read a license plate inside the store. All you need is a face.

    Really, it sounds like you guys want to find a solution to an unsolvable problem. There will always be things happening like this. It’s the times. And people are very stupid. The best thing we can do is report honestly on all the bulls–t that happens. It happened and we got lucky. What else can you say?

Sorry, comment time is over.