UPDATE: Police response at The Whittaker

(WSB photo)

7:59 AM: Thanks for the tips about a police response at The Whittaker (4755 Fauntleroy Way SW). One texter mentioned “the bomb squad.” We got there just as police were wrapping up a short time ago. Officers getting ready to leave told us a “suspicious package” had been removed. No damage/injuries reported, and no other details so far.

(Added Wednesday evening: Photo tweeted by MTK)

11:31 AM: We’ve just received answers to our followup questions from SPD: “Officers responded and requested Arson/Bomb squad detectives to respond as well after seeing the items on a table in a common area. As a safety precaution, the immediate area was evacuated. ABS arrived and determined the items to be non-threatening, and removed them for further investigation. The owner of the items was contacted and interviewed. It does not appear that there was any malicious intent on the subject’s part, and no charges will be filed.”

ADDED FRIDAY: Just posted today in the SPD Blotter Significant Incident Report files, a summary that explains exactly what the “items” were:

On 11-11-2020 at 0537 hours, a janitorial staff member in a business in the 4700 block of Fauntleroy Way SW called 911 when she discovered several suspicious items inside a freezer located in the 7th floor apartment common area. Among those items she described a hand grenade and a metal pipe. SW patrol personnel arrived, interviewed the apartment staff member and evacuated the immediate area. The Sergeant notified the Arson Bomb Squad. ABS arrived and determined that the grenade was a novelty item filled with ice and that the other items were also benign. SW patrol personnel later located and interviewed the owner of the items, who apparently didn’t understand why those types of items would raise someone’s concern as he uses them to create art and furniture.

27 Replies to "UPDATE: Police response at The Whittaker"

  • A-Red November 11, 2020 (8:56 am)

    Was it a very large box that felt like it only had a tube of lipstick in it? Might have just been something from Amazon???

    • WSB November 11, 2020 (10:40 am)

      Assuming you’re just trying to be funny (though overpackaging is a problem). That aside, unfortunately my hopes of getting further followup info are low because of the holiday – SPD media relations is apparently closed, aside from being on call as always for major incidents.

  • JKK November 11, 2020 (11:03 am)

    That’s crap.  What if your family Lived there. You would want answers.  Call the Whittaker.  Call someone else if they are supposed to be on call for emergent situations.   Which I believe this would fall under.   Or just throw your hands in the air and wait for info to come to you. Because it doesn’t directly effect you.  Disappointing answers.  For a dangerous situation that may be attempted again.  ESP if no one follows up.  

    • WSB November 11, 2020 (11:17 am)

      We don’t “wait for info to come to (us)” – we went to the scene this morning as soon as we heard about it and continue to go to many incidents (and other events) each week despite the fact there’s a pandemic on. – TR

    • Bert November 11, 2020 (11:38 am)

      JKK, would you like them to pick up your laundry, too? You’re perfectly capable of making all of these calls and updating the thread–feel free!

      • JKK November 11, 2020 (3:39 pm)

        Hey Bert.  I’m not the one that runs the website and has 700 other contacts they could try before saying. Oh. Welp I guess we have to wait till tomorrow to find out if that was a BOMB in. BUILDING!!!!!!   And as a resident there I should t have to chase management to send an email or any form of communication that this happened.   Pick up my laundry.  Good lord.  It’s not my job to chase the story. Of again.  A possible BOMB in my building.  Yes WSB was on site. Sure.  But they gave us no information until later and even that is still vague.  If you lived there you would want to know what was happening.  Maybe it’s just me and the crappy management there.  Or all of the people sleeping in the alley. Or the shooting that happened on property a couple of weeks ago.  It seems to be escalating at the Whittaker.  And it’s not wrong for me to ask a question after a story has been published.  Stick your head back in the sand.  I’m pretty sure if I was standing in front of you. You would t say the response you said on line to my face.   That’s called being a troll.  

        • alki_2008 November 11, 2020 (8:15 pm)

          @JKK – If you aren’t happy with the service a website is providing to you. Then stop paying for it. Oh wait…you don’t have to pay for the West Seattle Blog…it’s a free service!

          If you don’t like it than start another website that lives up to your standards.

          Would you have preferred if WSB didn’t report on it at all? Your comments to this article make you sound ridiculously entitled.

    • Erin98126 November 11, 2020 (11:45 am)

      Jeez, JKK. If it means that much to you, YOU call the Whitaker and demand answers. OR you could call your family that presumably lives there and ask THEM directly how they are doing. The blog does an amazing job keeping the West Seattle community informed. It is uncalled for to lash out at them like you did.

    • Calires November 11, 2020 (12:03 pm)

      If my family lived there, I’d follow up myself if I had concerns instead of having a tantrum in the comments.

    • BetteDavisEyes November 11, 2020 (12:06 pm)

      JKK, I hope your day gets better.  Please, let’s be respectful of the hard work and long hours put in every day by the West Seattle Blog team to keep us informed of events in our community.  Most communities have nothing close to what they provide to us.  We are incredibly fortunate.

    • JGreene November 11, 2020 (12:13 pm)

      Are you being serious? The WSB is always the first on local stories and I’m often surprised at just how quick their reporting is. If you want to complain to the police for not releasing information quicker that’s one thing (even though delays are understandable in this type of situation), but getting snarky at the WSB for not being able to provide the full picture when a story breaks means you don’t understand how “the news” works at all. PS— We are lucky to have the WSB as a local resource – thank you for all you do!!

    • Alkibiach November 11, 2020 (3:07 pm)

      JKK – your comments are uncalled for. The WS Blog provides facts, details & follow up extremely fast. They work around the clock to keep us informed.                                            WS Blog – thank you for your excellent journalism. Your continuous hard work is greatly appreciated! 

  • WSB November 11, 2020 (11:29 am)

    … and the media-relations team has just answered my query after all, so that info is being added above.

  • B November 11, 2020 (12:09 pm)

    @ JKK – I think YOU’RE response is crap.  WSP reported what they were given and moved on to the next WS situation, of which there is never a dull moment. You want more answers so bad, YOU follow up with the Whittaker then. And leave your CRAP comments for Twitter or IG.

  • Alki resident November 11, 2020 (3:21 pm)

    JKK when did it become the Blogs responsibilities to sooth your curiosity’s? They volunteer to do this site. Go invest your time and learn what happened on your own time. Maybe take some CBD while you’re at it. 

  • JKK November 11, 2020 (3:48 pm)

    I agree wsb is awesome.  Thanks for asking instead of assuming I think they are crap.   This blog is one of the reasons I chose to move to west seattle.  Community.  All I’m saying is.  When I call management they tell us nothing.  The wsb could get more information than I probably could.   They have a ton of contacts they more than likely could have tried before saying.  Well it’s a holiday so we probley won’t hear back.   And it’s a potential bomb in a building.  The thing I don’t understand is how all of you think this is not a serious thing!   In this world we live in these days.  Anything can happen and basically has happened.   It’s not my job to chase a story after it’s been 1/2 way reported about.   But thanks everyone for assuming everyone knows anything about me.  I’m the one in the wrong for being concerned my building may explode.   You’re the victims here.   Thanks for the feeling of community instead of assumptions and backlash for trying to be safe.  

    • OneTimeCharley November 11, 2020 (4:46 pm)

      Anxiety troll. <eye roll> Don’t buy into it. 

    • alki_2008 November 11, 2020 (8:22 pm)

      I’m the one in the wrong for being concerned my building may explode. 
      You are not in the wrong for being concerned, but expecting WSB to be your resource is the problem. If you’re in the building when there’s a bomb risk, then I’d suggest you get out of it until the police officers clear the area – which would then be a clear indication that it’s safe. The police at the scene should be your primary resource, bulding management second, and WSB much further down the list.

    • wseakell November 11, 2020 (8:29 pm)

      JKK I have to chime in here because your comments are so terribly unfounded and unkind. Have you ever met the people that run the WSB? It’s basically ran and managed by two incredible individuals that work their rears off to ensure the WS and White Center communities are extremely well informed about happenings and news. To speak to your comment above, I think if you’ve ever met these two individuals you wouldn’t be speaking like this to their faces. They’re always kind, calm, and professional AND extremely responsive. To echo what other comments have said you have no idea how many other contacts they tried, do you?! Additionally they are reporting RESPONSIBLY and not publishing unfounded sources or comments that aren’t verified like so many other news sources do. They were simply waiting to hear back from the source that would really know what was going on. Calm down, take a breath. Give these things some time and have some faith in humanity and your fellow West Seattleites, including the two lovely people that run the fabulous blog. This isn’t Die Hard with a Vengeance. 

    • 1994 November 11, 2020 (10:23 pm)

      Maybe it is time to move out of the Whittaker? I would not want to live in one of those mega buildings where you have no idea what your neighbors are up to…..

  • WS Blog Super Fan November 11, 2020 (6:28 pm)

    JKK you apparently don’t realize how hard WSB does try to get the facts.Your faulting them for reporting 1/2 the story as you say–should they have not posted anything at all until they did have a fuller story?There wasn’t a bomb in your building, it was a suspicious package, a situation the police respond to somewhat regularly in our post 9/11 world.If WSB is part of the reason you moved to WS then please show them more respect.  They are on call 24/7 and are on top of this community and it’s happenings.  You also assume without any evidence that WSB didn’t try other sources. To WSB thank you for your always professional responses to less than polite criticism.  I appreciate your work and I know thousands do also.

  • Mike November 11, 2020 (7:22 pm)

    JKK, Give us all a break on your disappointment with the “feeling of community”.  It’s because you’re being a jerk, figure it out. This large WSB community is clearly sending you a message that you’re wrong and very nasty.  It’s probably time you go whine somewhere else.

  • WGA November 12, 2020 (12:19 am)

    Back at Bad Guy HQ, “I told you to put the package UNDER the table.”

  • miws November 12, 2020 (9:52 am)

    I was going to let this go since by the time I last checked these comments yesterday afternoon, several people had already come to WSB’s defense in response to JKK’s original comment, and at that point, there were no other comments from JKK showing. JKK, as others have pointed out, WSB is mainly staffed by two people, who devote 24/7/365 to this site. They are both decades-long professional journalists, in both corporate media, as well as running WSB for the past 13 years. Don’t you think they would have done all they could, with what resources are available on a holiday? You say that one of the reasons you chose to move to West Seattle is because of WSB. That suggests to me that you know enough about them to be aware of this. Is it WSB’s fault that the Whittaker has “crappy management”,  and not telling you more? Push Whittaker management for more info, instead of taking it out on WSB. Keep pushing them if they don’t respond. If “crappy management” has been an ongoing situation then escalate up through the Whittaker management/building ownership hierarchy, and keep escalating until you get satisfactory results. If that doesn’t help, or if you have already done that, then there are resources out there to help with tenant/landlord issues. Another reason I was going to let this go, and originally planned to not comment on this, is I didn’t want to “pile-on”, in case your comment was the result of something such as being an immediate emotional reaction related to being upset about the incident. In that case, I would expect that if you came back to further comment, it would be to apologize to WSB and explain that your comment was the result of being (understandably) upset about a potentially dangerous situation. Instead, you come back here on the defensive in response to other commenters, and still, apparently, mad at WSB for the “crappy” management at the Whittaker. —Mike  

  • YES2WS November 12, 2020 (3:42 pm)

    I can’t say it any better than the previous posters, but I just want to add my support (and respect) to the WSB. I’m biting my tongue at what I’d like to say to JKK, so I’ll just leave it at that.

  • momof3boys November 13, 2020 (8:37 am)

    You’ve all done an amazing job at defending WSB, we have such love (yes love) and respect for you Tracy & Patrick – I would like to add one data point. If it had been a “bomb” the police would have evacuated the building. Since they didn’t. You can rest assured that it was NOT a “bomb.”

  • WSB November 13, 2020 (1:05 pm)

    Thanks to all for the kind words. We’re always appreciative of constructive criticism, but really, on this one, we did what we could at the time. Postscript from SPD today, added above, identifying the “items” – TR

Sorry, comment time is over.