WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: No evidence of Admiral gunfire; plus, Highland Park prowler

Two notes in West Seattle Crime Watch:

NO EVIDENCE OF ADMIRAL GUNFIRE: We don’t usually mention “possible gunfire” dispatches when nothing is found – they are fairly common – but we’ve received a lot of questions about this one, so in case you were wondering too: Before 1 am, people in the Admiral area reported hearing what sounded like gunshots, and a car “screeching.” Police were dispatched. They did not find any evidence of gunfire so the call was classified as “disturbance.” To confirm gunfire, they have to find shell casings and/or property damage (bullet holes, etc.) and/or an injured person, and/or they need a witness who actually saw someone firing a gun. The absence of all those things doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, but it means police have no way to classify the incident as confirmed “shots fired.” (There are fireworks and even car modifications that can sound like gunshots.) One more note: Evidence somtimes turns up later – in daylight, for example – so if you ever find a shell casing, property damage, etc., even if you don’t know when the gunfire happened, please report that too.

SIDE NOTE – GUNFIRE COUNTYWIDE: The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office recently published this infographic-style report on gun violence this year through June 30th. It’s mostly countywide stats except for this map showing confirmed gunfire incidents (with and without injuries):

Also this morning, a reader report:

ANOTHER PROWLER: From Makenzie in Highland Park:

We just captured a Ring camera video of someone trying to potentially break into our house. The video shows him looking around, looking for a spare key under the mat, trying the door handle and looking into our windows to see if anyone was home. We wanted to pass this to you in case anyone else has similar issues or can watch out. We live on 14th and Trenton in the Highland Park area.

18 Replies to "WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: No evidence of Admiral gunfire; plus, Highland Park prowler"

  • John August 3, 2021 (11:59 am)

    I live in the admiral district and I got awaken by the shooting sound also and it was not one shot it was like 10 shots fired and that’s weird how there was no evidence or person hit. It sure didnt sound like a car muffler. 

    • NachosFriend August 3, 2021 (2:32 pm)

      This was unmistakable gunfire – not the usual pop pops that could be car backfire, fireworks, or a 9mm. I counted at least 12 shots, tire squealing, then 6 more shots.

      • IKnowGuns August 3, 2021 (4:35 pm)

        I concur. I was awake, and am a frequent shooter at the shooting range, and I am about 90% sure this was gunfire. Some fast, some a little slower, but not the consistent timing of a string of fireworks. And since it was about 10 shots and not 15, I would assume its a .40 or .45 and not a 9mm, which has a higher pitch and higher magazine capacity. Just the opinion of an part-time internet sleuth.

  • buying earplugs in bulk August 3, 2021 (12:43 pm)

    Yes, what is going on with the LOUD vehicles. It seems to be getting worse and worse and worse. Is this the “cool” thing now — extra, extra loud cars and motorcycles?

    • Michael August 3, 2021 (1:30 pm)

      Washington State no longer does emission testing so there’s no reason to have a legal exhaust system.

      • Robocall August 3, 2021 (3:04 pm)

        Most of the modified Hondas, Acuras, and Subarus running around with tens of thousands of dollars of engine/exhaust modifications are old enough to be emissions testing-exempt, anyway. Also, many of the 2018-2021 factory-direct sport sedans, muscle cars, and hyper-sport cars can make the compression backfires on hard acceleration, too. Our neighbor with a brand-new supercharged Camaro is one example. Those new cars would all pass emissions testing if we still had it.

    • Jay August 3, 2021 (4:13 pm)

      When I moved out here I was really shocked that there are no annual vehicle inspections. Probably a contributing factor to Washington’s insanely high insurance rates. Loud exhaust is just part of it. It’s dangerous as a pedestrian or cyclist when all the cars have blacked out windows so you can’t tell if drivers noticed you. Or the lack of knowledge that every car on the road has working brakes. It’s madness.

      • sbre August 3, 2021 (5:37 pm)

        You’re correct Jay, it is often very difficult to see if a driver is seeing you.In that light, I place my focus on the vehicles front tires which tells me everything I need to know, the vehicles speed and direction.

  • StopCuttingDownTrees August 3, 2021 (1:01 pm)

    We have several young guys in the Arbor Heights and north Burien area who have very-highly modified sports sedans. They make multiple gunshot sounds on hard acceleration between shifts. I spend hours per year at shooting ranges and I often can’t decipher between gunshots and the backfires from these street racing cars. Both sound types are explosions coming out of steel tubes.

  • wendell August 3, 2021 (1:10 pm)

    The prowler left behind some nice prints of both hands. 

    • 1994 August 3, 2021 (9:23 pm)

      He sure did. Think SPD will take prints? What a creepy guy. I sure hope he doesn’t return. He had keys in one hand. Maybe he has a car to prowl around and peer into people’s homes…..creepy.

  • Marion August 3, 2021 (3:16 pm)

    We heard cars screeching by on Avalon early this morning, followed by the smell of burning rubber. Possibly related?

    • Skipalapondo August 3, 2021 (10:00 pm)

      I heard that car on Avalon too- I was outside and was able to witness it. It was a big red SUV that seemed to be missing a tire. It went thru the intersection at 35th on Avalon, then screeched thru The Habit parking lot and drive thru, then went back down Avalon to the bridge. I thought about calling 911 but didn’t know which direction they went from there, and didn’t have any evidence of a crime, just someone driving stupid. Now I wonder if they were fleeing the scene of the gunshots.

  • drahcir August 3, 2021 (3:28 pm)

    I live on Fairmount Ave SW & have zero doubt these were gunshots.  We’ve had gunshots near the houses before but this seemed to come from the area under the Admiral bridge.  2 or 3 shots woke us up (at first I thought it might be a tree crashing in the woods) but then there were 6 to 8 non-stop shots in quick sequence.  Then a minute or so went by & there were 2 final shots (sounding very different from the 6-8 in a row).  I did not see any cars come down the hill (towards Harbor).

  • Rich August 3, 2021 (3:56 pm)

    I was awake in the Admiral district with my home windows open around 12:35am.  Easily 12-15 gun shots.  They were not from fireworks. Location wise I was thinking the high school area but we are a few blocks away so couldn’t tell for sure.  The screeching tires were also real.

  • AlCap August 3, 2021 (7:56 pm)

    Can a dude be so dumb to prowler a house that openly; not even noticing the Ring? I mean really, that dumb? Prints. Conspicuous look. Hmmm.

    • Brian August 3, 2021 (9:25 pm)

      Absolutely nothing will happen to this guy.  

    • Chris August 3, 2021 (10:24 pm)

      I was thinking the same thing AlCap, Rings are so obvious, definitely a creeper and now a well known visible creeper.

Sorry, comment time is over.