UPDATE: 4th Avenue S. blocked in SODO after man shot on bus

(Added 11:39 am: SDOT cam framegrab of investigation scene)

11:28 AM: If you’re heading downtown, do NOT use 4th Avenue South – police have currently closed it at Walker because of a shooting investigation. It’s reported to have happened aboard a Metro bus. Two people were hurt, one from a gunshot wound, the other from injuries attributed to whatever “altercation” happened.

12:11 PM: Street is still blocked as the investigation continues but Pooja emailed us with this advice: “We just went on 4th and it’s possible to go around Lander to 6th to Holgate (and I think still faster than waiting on the West Seattle bridge and I-5 to get to 90).” SPD, meantime, says via Twitter that no suspects are “outstanding” though they haven’t clarified whether that means someone else is in custody or the shooting was done by one of the two people taken to the hospital.

12:28 PM: SFD says the shooting victim is a 51-year-old man and was transported in critical condition; the man with other injuries is 88 and in stable condition. Both were taken to Harborview Medical Center.

1:46 PM: Southbound traffic is now being allowed through. The northbound lanes are still blocked.

ADDED SATURDAY EVENING: According to SPD, the older man shot the younger man, and then fell and hit his head.

19 Replies to "UPDATE: 4th Avenue S. blocked in SODO after man shot on bus"

  • WSneighbor January 26, 2019 (3:06 pm)

    With the increase in bus riders, has there been any thought on increased security? For example, a “bus marshal” (akin to a sky marshal)? As a regular user of Metro, I sometimes do get a bit uneasy riding the bus at times, and the creep factor (that is to say, strange, possibly dangerous, persons on the bus) seems to be on the rise. 

  • WSmomma January 26, 2019 (3:33 pm)

    My son and I got stuck at the light right where it happened- Gas station on 4th and Holgate. At the time, there was gentleman laying on the street right in front of a rapid line and car parked everywhich way in the gas station. There was only one police officer there at the time and he had just arrived. We bought maybe the gentleman had been hit by the bus or something. Just as the light turned green and we started going, several police cars and medic one came flying down the street. Indroooed my son off about a mile away and when I came back that way the police had from Holgate to possibly Lander blocked off. There was about 4-6 medic one and a crap load of police cars. 

  • Bus January 26, 2019 (3:43 pm)

    I actually feel more safe when there are more people on the bus.  But my most frequent issue is dudes who think Metro is some kind of dating service and want to serenade/wrap their arm around/hit on me during the ride.  I guess crowds take the “romance” out of commuting.  On topic: I hope they both fully recover and SPD holds whomever is responsible accountable. 

  • Diane January 26, 2019 (4:36 pm)

    Seattle Times blurb said the 88 yr old man was the shooter; do you know if that’s accurate?  guns on the bus, argh!

  • KT January 26, 2019 (6:13 pm)

    What bus route was it?

    • chemist January 26, 2019 (9:52 pm)

      The Kiro7 video showed it was a Rapid Ride and, near the end, they said it was a C using the re-route.

  • busrider January 27, 2019 (10:08 am)

    Why is the C stopping on 4th Ave? Even with the re-route there should not be stops on 4th. They should just be taking a different route from West Seattle to Downtown stops on 3rd.

    • CAM January 27, 2019 (11:55 am)

      That is weird. Unless the incident started in West Seattle and continued to build all the way to Walker and then the driver stopped to kick them off. That’s still a long way to go though with a disturbance on board. There would have been multiple chances to stop before then. 

    • WSR January 28, 2019 (9:53 am)

      The incident started on 4th and ended on 4th. I agree the bus shouldn’t stop there. They are stopping cause lots of people are using transit while the Viaduct is closed. The were only on the bus for about 3-5 minutes before the shooting happened. 

    • CAM January 28, 2019 (10:00 am)

      I just went and looked this up and the article from kiro makes it sound like this happened while the bus was in motion and the shooter was pushed much later than when he boarded. Q13 had a similar sounding story that also made it sound like this was not at a stop. 

      • WSB January 28, 2019 (10:57 am)

        Since Saturday, we have linked in our story above to the official police account, as posted on SPD Blotter. Here again is that link:
        http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2019/01/26/shooting-investigation-aboard-a-metro-bus/

        This is what you are seeing in other media accounts too (including the allegation that the older man was shoved, mentioned by someone upthread).

        It does not say anything about a stop, so I don’t know where that came from.

        • newnative January 28, 2019 (11:36 am)

          It’s strongly implied that the bus had stopped because all narratives state that the younger man shoved the shooter as he tried to board the bus. This implies that the bus had just picked him up. The alternative scenario is that the younger man shoved the shooter much earlier in the ride and nothing was done until the shooter shot him in SoDo. 

        • CAM January 28, 2019 (1:34 pm)

          Apologies. I wasn’t trying to suggest the information posted here was inaccurate. More so it’s confusing to me for the reasons newnative and busrider mentioned. I was just trying to work it out how it might have happened that fit all of the known variables. More likely than not the police have more information that isn’t being released and we’ll just have to wait and see. 

  • I. Ponder January 27, 2019 (1:16 pm)

    Nobody expects the old people to be dangerous, but there you have it. 88 year old with a gun. Idea of a bus marshal isn’t practical. Who’s going to pay for that?

  • heyalki January 28, 2019 (8:13 am)

    The news last night said the old man was shoved while entering the bus, and that’s when he pulled out the gun.

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