WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Woman arrested after ‘warning shot’ goes awry; stabbing suspect charged; alert for runners

| Crime | West Seattle news

Three West Seattle Crime Watch reports:

WOMAN ARRESTED FOR UNINTENTIONALLY SHOOTING HUSBAND: SPD investigated a shooting late last night in southeast West Seattle. We heard some of the radio discussion, and SPD summarized it online this afternoon. A 911 call – with no one talking but a “disturbance in the background” – brought officers to a house in the 9000 block of 3rd SW. On arrival, officers saw blood on a car. They eventually determined that a woman in the house had fired a gun, hitting a man in the hand. The SPD Blotter report says the suspect is the victim’s wife, and that it happened after they argued with a man “who ended up pepper spraying the couple. They said the woman then took out a handgun and fired a ‘warning shot,’ which struck her husband in the hand. The couple said they then chased the known man out of their home and the wife fired three additional rounds.” She was arrested; the gun (SPD photo at right) was recovered.

STABBING SUSPECT CHARGED: We reported last Sunday that one man was stabbed and a suspect arrested after an incident at Transitional Resources in the 2900 block of SW Avalon Way. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged the suspect, 34-year-old Harrison Washington, with second-degree assault. Charging documents say he does not have a criminal history and that the two have known each other for several years; the victim told police he was stabbed without provocation after asking Washington for a cigarette and being told he could get one in the suspect’s apartment, then finding none. Washington is in jail, bail set at $250,000.

ALERT FOR RUNNERS: Received from a reader who asked only to be identified as a “solo female runner”:

At 6:15 AM this morning (Thursday, Jan 7), I was running on Marine View Drive near the curve towards Seola Greenbelt Park /35th Ave SW with my headlight and reflective vest on for visibility. I had seen a late model gray Toyota truck traveling the opposite direction, but then noticed it was driving my direction slowly behind me a distance away, never passing me. I became concerned since I was quickly approaching the park open space, away from homes. I decided to cross the street and run up a driveway to the side of a house out of sight and turn off my light. I could hear the truck stop and it did not continue traveling my direction. Once I no longer heard the truck, I quickly made my way home on side streets without my light off. I didn’t have a cell phone on me to report to Seattle PD for investigation, but did call later to report the incident. I just want any early-morning runners to be aware of this incident for safety reasons.

heyalki January 7, 2021 (2:54 pm)

That’s so creepy! Stuff like this is why I’m personally afraid to go out on a walk/run alone ever. I used to bus everywhere as a teen, downtown and in the WS area, and have had more scares like this than I can count. Being followed, harassed, and once almost kidnapped. It’s a sad scary world. :( Glad this woman was aware of her surroundings and quick to trust her gut! Be safe out there everyone.

Jort January 7, 2021 (3:58 pm)

The chances of you shooting your spouse in the hand are 0 percent when you don’t have a gun in your house. But, I do understand how important it is for some people to feel like they need to be ever-ready to execute somebody for being inside their home. The death penalty without trial of any kind for somebody being inside your house is probably very reasonable and actually something people enjoy performing, I guess. Who knows what could have happened if there was no gun in the situation — the person might have stolen an iPad or something!

The King January 7, 2021 (8:35 pm)

Put a big sign over your residence that reads NO GUNS IN THIS HOUSE. That way the criminals know where to go. You must pretty damn naive to think the trenches of Seattle’s criminals are those who would steal an iPad.
John Wm. W. January 7, 2021 (8:42 pm)

Jort, thank you for your male perspective on this. 🙄
bb7 January 7, 2021 (8:58 pm)

The chances of shooting your spouse are also 0% if the person who has the gun is mature enough to know when to not to use it. This wasn’t a gun issue, this was a shooter issue.
- Mellow Kitty January 7, 2021 (9:42 pm)
  
  I’m all for responsible gun ownership. People have to pass a test to drive – it would be nice if you had to pass a test to get a gun.
  - mark47n January 8, 2021 (7:32 am)
    
    @Mellow Kitty: Here’s the issue you face; I have a right to own guns. It’s secured in the 2nd Amendment I may not be able to carry it without a CCW permit. In WA, there is no castle doctrine so if I shot an intruder I would still face a trial. Driving a car is a privilege, not a right, therefore the State can apply testing and licensing restrictions though you can still own a car with no license.Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
    - DH January 9, 2021 (5:03 pm)
      
      Are you part of a well regulated militia?
Greg January 7, 2021 (9:31 pm)

No trial necessary, if you are in my house, and you pepper spray my wife, I hereby give her, or my next-door neighbor, or responding police, or any passerby my full permission to aim directly through my hand and pull trigger. Stay out of my house.
alki_2008 January 11, 2021 (1:57 pm)

@JORT — I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess you’re not a woman – and certainly not one that has been sexually assaulted. Or do you think all women should just call 911 and hope the police show up fast enough.
In this particular article, the gun was not the problem. An improperly trained gun owner was the problem.

Carson January 7, 2021 (4:13 pm)

I run almost every morning, 6-8am along the waterfront. I try and say good morning to every runner I see, to be polite, to aknowledge how tough it is and to also let other runners know that I have their back, be it a medical issue or something like this. I prefer to not run with my phone (I have an Apple watch after all) but my wife insists and I give in on that. I tell her if I ever had a problem I could stop anyone running and they would help me. At least thats what I like to think.

Mj January 7, 2021 (6:00 pm)

After being pepper sprayed in your home, a threatening act, do not people have a right to protect themselves? Shooting the aggressor in your home I believe is legal. The three additional rounds after the warning shot that served it’s purpose is clearly not right.

mark47n January 8, 2021 (7:36 am)

@MJ: the doctrine of self defense is pretty limited. You may use the amount of force you must to defend yourself…if you cannot escape. Shooting someone may not be considered an appropriate level of force.Washington does not subscribe to the concept of Castle Doctrine, which says that you can shoot an intruder with little to no consequence. Different states have applied varying degrees of this doctrine.
AMD January 8, 2021 (9:03 am)

Shooting at the aggressor is (I believe) legal, but she shot her husband, not the aggressor. There is always the chance that this is a domestic violence incident and that she made up the aggressor to cover up the true, illegal, nature of the incident (and the husband went along with it to protect her). This is why she was arrested and the incident needs to be investigated. I’m not saying that WAS the case, but when one spouse shoots another, it needs to be investigated.

Robin January 7, 2021 (6:01 pm)

I run early in the morning and always carry pepper spray

Sixbuck January 7, 2021 (8:00 pm)

Only irresponsible gun users fire warning shots.

jack January 7, 2021 (8:22 pm)

The chances of you stabbing your spouse in the hand are 0 percent when you don’t have a knife in your house.

brian January 7, 2021 (9:38 pm)

Good thing knives don’t have any other uses aside from stabbing someone /s

StopCuttingDownTrees January 8, 2021 (2:21 am)

I was attacked by a convertible car full of drunken punks while running at Alki late at night 28 years ago. They threw eggs at me and one hit me in the back so hard it dazed me. They got out of the car and surrounded me so I drew my small .357 revolver. They ran back to the car and sped away. I’ve always been leery of slow cars behind me while I’m running ever since. Thanks for giving us warning about this suspicious vehicle activity.

Jort January 8, 2021 (12:12 pm)

Good thing you were ready to fire a weapon designed solely for killing human beings in order to prevent eggs from hitting you. I am impressed that you were willing to impose a death penalty, without trial of any kind, for some drunk kids egging you.
- StopCuttingDownTrees January 8, 2021 (1:03 pm)
  
  1) they weren’t kids. They were large men over 200 pounds, had 60-70 pounds on me, and taunting my race…..what we would call a hate crime today. 2) the SPD report I filed was listed under malicious harassment/assault and battery. 3) thank God I didn’t have to fire a shot and the display of my weapon duffused the situation. 4) I don’t need your approval to save my own life (see U.S. and Washington State Constitutions, Heller vs D.C., and McDonald vs Chicago).

TM7302 January 8, 2021 (11:20 am)

I see we have the arm chair lawyers at work today… Warning shots are for movies. Have a gun = Know the law.

zark00 January 8, 2021 (11:41 am)

Yet another example of why gun control is essential and the ‘good guy with a gun’ is a complete fallacy. Homes with guns are inherently more dangerous than homes without guns.I ask if people have guns in their home, if they do my kids are not allowed to visit those homes.It’s about protecting my family. Keeping guns away from your family is the only responsible thing to do. People who own guns for ‘self-defense’ have two stories, and only two, to ever tell.’I have never used my gun for self-defense, or to defend my family or my home’ and ‘I had a gun to protect my family, it was misused and now my family is hurt, or worse’There are effectively no stories of ‘I used my gun to protect my family and it worked’ because it’s so rare it’s basically a statistical anomaly.

Tyr1001 January 8, 2021 (1:45 pm)

according to the national statistics, self defense uses of a firearm are anywhere from a couple hundred to 2.5 million a year, which shows just how easily these statistics are skewed one way or the other and can’t really be used without acknowledging that fact. That being said just as you see almost no instances where it has worked out for a responsible gun owner, I see plenty all the time. This is called the echo chamber, and knowing you are in one will help everyone. i always went by ‘believe nothing of what you read and only half of what you see’. Pessimistic I suppose but taking everything with a bit of cynicism before you really take it on board is vital. Ultimately we disagree and that’s ok. The woman is this incident was absolutely in the wrong however, warning shots are never ok and the individual had already left the house, this state does not honor the stand your ground clause. Wildly irresponsible as well, after being pepper sprayed
- zark00 January 9, 2021 (1:42 pm)
  
  This isn’t an agree or disagree situation. It’s a right or wrong situation.Guns are rarely used in self defense, and used successfully even less.You haven’t seen ‘plenty all the time’ because it almost never happens, it’s a statitical impossibility that you have personal experience with this ‘plenty’. Not sure why you’d make that up – it’s weird – but you’re wrong. If you own a gun, the people you care about are in more danger than if you didn’t own a gun – that is an unassailable fact. The latest data show that people use guns for self-defense only rarely. According to a Harvard University analysis of figures from the National Crime Victimization Survey, people defended themselves with a gun in nearly 0.9 percent of crimes from 2007 to 2011.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091743515001188
  - alki_2008 January 11, 2021 (2:08 pm)
    
    @ZARK00 — That’s some old data, more than 9 years old. Also, that study is almost meaningless to your point. It says less than 1% of victims used a gun for self-defense, but doesn’t say how many of those victims even HAD a gun. Of course people can’t use a gun if they don’t have one. Notice it says that SDGU was more common among males, in rural areas. Gee, I wonder why. Maybe gun ownership is also more common among males, in rural areas?

cdad January 8, 2021 (2:03 pm)

Peacelover January 9, 2021 (1:58 pm)

The rest of the World lives relatively peacefully, and without guns, Canada is but one example!Wikipedia: “Compared to 22 other high-income nations, the U.S. gun-related homicide rate is 25 times higher.” Oh, and then in addition there’s accidental shootings some fatal some not, suicides-by-gun, etc, etc.The Constitution was written when America was mostly Rural, Farmers needed guns to protect their animals from predators!To own a gun in West Seattle, one doesn’t need a “Test”, other than perhaps needing one’s “head” examined.Peacelover

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