WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Man jailed after showing sawed-off shotgun

| Crime | West Seattle news

Seattle Police included that photo with this report today about a weekend weapons arrest in The Junction:

Police arrested a man after he displayed a sawed-off shotgun behind an Alaska Junction business late Friday night.

Officers were dispatched to the 4700 block of California Avenue SW at 11 PM Friday for a report of a man with a gun.

Officers spoke with the manager of a business who said he exited out the rear of his business and spotted the 48-year-old suspect speaking incoherently about people shooting at him. At one point the suspect mentioned that he had a sandwich, reached into his bag and pulled out a sawed-off shotgun. The manager told the suspect to leave, which he did, then called 911.

Police officers began searching the area and found the suspect a block away. They searched the man and recovered the loaded shotgun. Officers arrested and booked the suspect into King County Jail for unlawful use of a weapon.

We checked the King County Jail Register; the suspect was booked early Saturday and is still there.

BJG June 10, 2019 (7:35 pm)

I’ve been hearing a lot of fireworks or gunfire late at night near the Junction. I don’t call it in because I don’t know what it is or where it is coming from, but it’s been persistent. Hope it’s not from this guy and his gun. I’ve also noted a few high individuals stumbling around on our block, Is 44th the new place to shoot up?

WSB June 10, 2019 (7:51 pm)

I know at least two recent incidents were fireworks. PLEASE call it in if you hear something and really don’t know. Could save a life.
Erithan June 10, 2019 (10:11 pm)

There are a few people that have been openly inebriated in different ways around here for a bit(often in the alley and park near cali/Alaska and behind the 7 eleven all day)but have been some more dangerous new ones last few weeks. Talked to a gal at origins there was a guy throwing a knife against their fence over and over.
Wsresident June 11, 2019 (12:08 pm)

My business is at 44th and there have been lots of needles around!

Kravitz June 10, 2019 (7:53 pm)

Well THAT’s freakin’ terrifying. Can you elaborate on which business this was?

WSB June 10, 2019 (8:00 pm)

This is all the info that was released. 4700 block has many businesses so that doesn’t narrow anything down. If the suspect is charged, the docs will have more details.
LoveMyDogs June 11, 2019 (11:14 am)

Pogie Tavern
- newnative June 12, 2019 (10:59 am)
  
  the story says this happened outside and was not in a business. There is no indication the person had visited the employee’s business. The employee came on and said they don’t want the bad publicity. To then name a business is wrong, it’s rumor and possibly libel.

Jim P. June 10, 2019 (11:08 pm)

Gu’yd be lucky if he still had a hand if he fires that piece of junk. Wow.For the curious, that is also a major Federal violation. Both making a sawed off like that and possessing one. Let’s hope after the state gets done with him he gets turned over to the Feds. All the new gun control laws in the world won’t help if the ones that already exist are not strictly enforced.I’d not be surprised if he has past convictions so I’ll bet we also have a felon in possession of firearms and ammo. Guy needs a good long time in the pokey.

manager June 10, 2019 (11:09 pm)

I was the guy who told this dude to leave and yes it was terrifying. Our business would rather not have the negative attention. It’s not a rough joint, just a very out of the ordinary incident that we’re thankful ended without anyone getting hurt.

Jethro Marx June 10, 2019 (11:47 pm)

For those who feel punishment ought to be harsher, you may get your wish here; he has a short-barreled shotgun there, and even though it’s a single-shot, he could get ten years in federal prison just for holding it. (if I remember correctly) It’s treated basically the same as having a machine gun. I am, of course, assuming he didn’t get the NFA tax stamp, but that feels like a safe assumption to make.

Swede. June 11, 2019 (1:21 am)

Short barreld shotguns is still illegal in Washington. You can’t get one even with a ATF ‘stamp’. However a shotgun is classified as a weapon to be fired from the shoulder… so you CAN get (or build) something similar to the one pictured as a ‘AOW’ (All Other Weapons) classification with the correct paperwork. And I’m betting with you that this case wouldn’t fulfill any of those!
Knowitall June 11, 2019 (4:01 am)

Nope he’ll be out in a month tops. He wouldn’t even get 10 years if he held up the place. The gun will be confiscated and his gun rights revoked.
- CAM June 12, 2019 (10:14 am)
  
  A. His right to own a firearm will only be revoked if he is convicted of a felony. B. As soon as he has completed the full sentence he can apply to have his right to own a firearm reinstated. C. If you are speaking about the possible mental health perspective in regards to his right to own a firearm being revoked, that is not a criminal process and would be handled civilly, so has nothing to do with how the city or state prosecutes this case or the eventual verdict.

Peter S. June 11, 2019 (7:09 am)

Although Jethro is technically correct, I think it’s a much safer bet that this guy will be let out with little more than a slap on the wrist, since he didn’t actually “hurt” anyone. NFA tax stamps are technically legal but impossible to obtain in Seattle since they require the Chief of Police to sign off on them, and that office refuses to do so due to the prevailing attitude about guns in general. Even if obtained in another jurisdiction, they are somewhat pricey, require a no felony record, and take a very long time for approval (1 year plus), so highly unlikely he has the requisite paperwork. And yes, 10 years in Federal Pen + $10K fine is the potential penalty.Frankly, the fact that a guy who displayed signs of mental instability was wandering around and showing a gun at all concerns me far more than what kind of gun he had. We’ll see how long he stays in jail and what his punishment is. Treatment seems the best path, but unfortunately that’s not likely, either.

NM June 11, 2019 (12:46 pm)

@Peter S. “NFA tax stamps are technically legal but impossible to obtain in Seattle since they require the Chief of Police to sign off on them, and that office refuses to do so due to the prevailing attitude about guns in general.”This is not true, SPD only needs to be notified. That old rule you quoted only applied to individuals not trusts but was changed under Obama with BATF Final Rule 41F. They reconciled the lack of a background checks under trusts with Final Rule 41F which requires background checks for the people named in the trust, but also eliminated CLEO sign off of individuals and changed it to notification only for both so that the CLEO couldn’t arbitrarily stop a security company from functioning etc based on prevailing attitude and feels. That said, I highly doubt this applies in this situation and the individual in question needs to be prosecuted for violating the National Firearms Act. Please enforce the laws on the books. Thank you

Jess June 11, 2019 (7:26 am)

I didn’t think we had a law against being crazy or being armed. Is it the brandishing, concealing, or being unregistered that you think he will be charged with?

WSB June 11, 2019 (9:45 am)

Moot point for now as he was released last night. That does NOT mean he won’t be charged but it’s unlikely the charges would be filed any time soon.
- Eric1 June 11, 2019 (10:46 am)
  
  Oh. My. Now that is funny. Lets release the crazy man with a gun hallucinating that people are shooting at him. I mean packing a short barreled shotgun is s felony crime without the right paperwork and it isn’t as if there was a question of possession. Did they ask critical questions like “do you have access to any other weapons? ” before he was released? This is assuming that they didn’t give him back the shotgun last night. Citizens and cops do their job, prosecutors save money by releasing criminals. What could go wrong? SMH.
  - Jethro Marx June 11, 2019 (11:46 am)
    
    You’re imposing reason on an unreasonable situation; you ought rather ask, “Where are your other sandwiches?” Or, perhaps, “Who packed your lunch?”
- Coldheart Craig June 11, 2019 (2:18 pm)
  
  Wow, released already having been caught with a sawed off shotgun. For a city that is so eager to make it hard on law abiding gun owners, they sure seem to have a soft touch for those that don’t follow the laws.
Peter S. June 11, 2019 (10:01 am)

@Jess: You are correct, but both at the same time is a bad combination. And this from somebody who is generally pro-gun rights.I think we got our “punishment” answer: “Moot point for now as he was released last night. That does NOT mean he
won’t be charged but it’s unlikely the charges would be filed any time
soon. ”

BJG June 11, 2019 (10:13 am)

Well, he knows how to catch the bus back to here. We’ll see him again. He won’t remember to turn up for court. Cycle repeats.

ScubaFrog June 11, 2019 (11:48 am)

That’s going to be impossible to hold when you fire (thus scattering shot everywhere), to jail you go indeed! Good heavens, very dangerous, no Pro-2A person in their right mind would condone a bomb like this, and that’s what it is, a bomb.

danny b June 11, 2019 (1:27 pm)

Peter S, good on the deets but to clarify…Local LEO sign off applies to individual humans only…no way a person gets that around here.BUT a corporation, incorporated in Wa, with 1 or more human corporate officers (owners), may apply for stamp under company name, then wait the year to be approved, then transfer/purchase the gun in question, no local LEO signoff needed at all…seriously. Gun is now corporate asset and all officers listed on papers of incorporation filed in Oly can have normal ‘ownership level’ access same as any corp asset.And aow tax stamp is not the $200 like the other catagories, it is 5$.

Knowitall June 11, 2019 (2:26 pm)

Well it’s getting quieter on the Arm chair prosecutor front. So I will see my way out. Stay safe everyone!

Peter S. June 11, 2019 (2:46 pm)

To NM and Danny B: Thanks for the rules update and clarification. (I haven’t followed closely for a couple of years.) Trusts have been an option for a while, but there are some downsides to trust ownership. I was referring to an application as an individual and AFAIK, Seattle will still not sign off even though it is completely legal and have no reason to deny other than they don’t want to. I essentially got that, straight from the Chief of Police office. And, I agree with Scuba: It would probably be horrible to fire that thing. No sane person with legal access to a gun would choose that, which tells you something all by itself.

Chris June 11, 2019 (2:51 pm)

Slightly off topic, but involves guns in West Seattle. Lately when I walk along Alki I notice guns in pants. It’s not something I looked for before so maybe it’s been a problem all along. However I’ve started to notice guns and I see one almost every time I go to Alki. Just the handle sticking out of pants usually. It seems intentional.

anonyme June 11, 2019 (3:46 pm)

Haven’t we learned anything about people who display clear signs of mental illness and paranoia being in possession of guns? It often ends very, very badly, and yet this guy is out having barely passed go. Maybe we should start making judges accountable when tragedies happen after these guys are set free after promising to be good from now on. Golly, good thing it will be really, really hard for him to get more guns. Sarcasm, in case it wasn’t obvious.

CAM June 12, 2019 (10:20 am)

A judge didn’t set this man free. As the blog notes he was not charged. Fortunately, the government is not allowed to hold people in jail indefinitely without filing a charge against them, unless of course they hold you somewhere they deem to be not US property.

Mark Schletty June 11, 2019 (4:09 pm)

I would really like to know which prosecutor or judge released this man. Anyone releasing a wacko carrying an unlawful sawed-off shotgun needs to be voted out of office, or fired.

Jason June 11, 2019 (4:22 pm)

@CHRIS-most folks with a CCW will not show their firearm. The idea of a concealed firearm is to keep it concealed. I am betting most of the activity you are witnessing is illegal or skirting it. I have a CCW and carry everyday, including at Alki. If someone were concerned and happened to see the imprint and called it in, and a LEO asked me for my concealed permit, I would not be upset by that at all. So IMHO, I’d say call it in. I take my little kids there, as do most. The more calls SPD gets about illegal firearms possessions, the more they will step up their patrols and try to make a bigger impact on the beach. Again, my humble opinion.

John June 11, 2019 (7:31 pm)

Where I come from that is called a scatvarius. They would use a violin case to carry around. Double xx B was the cartiridge. . That S is insane. Good job SPD!
Mike June 12, 2019 (8:39 pm)

“I have a CCW and carry everyday, including at Alki.” I’ll never understand people in urban areas carrying a firearm. Grew up hunting, been shooting rifles and shotguns since age 8. You only put yourself, family and those around you at risk having a firearm on you at all times. By the time you need to use it to protect yourself, it’s too late.

manager June 26, 2019 (3:09 am)

I was the “manager” who confronted that man that night. The first thing he said when I asked “how are you doing” is his response of “I’m going to die tonight.” I had a can of mace in my hoodie pocket and saw the handle of his shotgun sticking out of his bag and wondered whether or not those would be my last moments. There is no question in my mind that he went there with ill intentions.

Sorry, comment time is over.