WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Gunfire investigation

11:59 PM: Police are investigating gunfire near 47th/Charlestown. They’ve just told dispatch that they’ve found “a couple of shell casings.” No reports of any injuries, though. This happened in an area where gunfire has been investigated before, including twice in one week last October. According to what officers have told dispatchers, they’ve gotten various descriptions of possible vehicles involved – no description of the armed person(s) so far.

ADDED 3:43 PM TUESDAY: We’ve requested the full-report narrative but haven’t received it yet. Here’s the preliminary summary made public by SPD:

Neighbors in the 4700 block of SW Charlestown called to report shots fired from a vehicle after a loud argument. When officers arrived, they located evidence of a shooting in front of an apartment building in the area. A female in the building was contacted who reported a burglary and hinted that her boyfriend may have fired his weapon while confronting the suspects who were driving a Gold or Silver Subaru Forester with tinted windows. However, her story changed repeatedly, she admitted lying initially to officers, and her boyfriend had fled the scene in a White BMW prior to officers’ arrival.

Skeptic January 18, 2022 (12:13 am)

I live less than 1km from there. I heard four pistol shots around 11:30pm. Rapid fire.

Sunflower January 18, 2022 (12:35 am)

Again? WT actual F?!

Skeptic January 18, 2022 (1:05 am)

Seriously. Gunfire was preceded by at least one vehicle traveling at very high speed down Admiral toward Alki and then probably south on 49th to Charleston. It was loud.

StopCuttingDownTrees January 18, 2022 (1:13 am)

100% unacceptable.

The Dude January 18, 2022 (1:16 am)

I live less than .6mi from there. I heard three pistol shots around 11:40pm. Pop-pop-pop

Tw January 18, 2022 (1:48 am)

I heard three loud bangs in rapid succession. Then a vehicle drive away fast. Sounded like an after market exhaust. I live on this block. This is very concerning.

Morgan January 18, 2022 (6:46 am)

Any interview comments from the convenience store owner

Curious January 18, 2022 (2:43 pm)

Morgan: You mentioned 7-11 in your comment from the story in October and now you’re mentioning “the convenience store owner”. The closest 7-11 to this location is Charlestown and California. Are you saying the elderly couple who own this 7-11 are involved in these shootings? If so, what is your evidence?

Resident January 18, 2022 (7:21 am)

I heard 4 rapid pistol shots by Alki Beach at around that same time. Near 63rd Ave

WS98 January 18, 2022 (8:11 am)

We live near Charlestown on 46th and heard 3-4 shots around 11:40 pm. I just happened to be close to my back door, so opened it and am pretty sure it all happened on Charlestown in front of the brown apartment building at 48th. One rattletrap car drove west on Charlestown with its headlights off while another sped east up the hill and away. I was up past midnight and didn’t hear anything else.

Ugh January 18, 2022 (9:37 am)

We live on Charlestown near 52nd. I heard 4 shots at 11:40pm and then a car speed by west down Charlestown as well.

Chuck January 18, 2022 (9:05 am)

I witnessed the incident and spoke to SPD. This (and multiple gun incidents over the last two years at 48th/Charlestown) are all connected to one “nuisance” apartment at the corner (4715 SW Charlestown.). Around 11:30 an occupant of the apartment shot (From the sidewalk in front of building on Charlestown) at a vehicle racing away from the building westbound on Charlestown. The shooter then jumped in his vehicle and fled eastbound on Charlestown. SPD recovered four shell casings in front of the building. Needless to say, the neighbors living around this problem are frustrated by this one apartment creating so many problems in an otherwise quiet neighborhood.

WSDUDEMAN January 18, 2022 (9:37 am)

Where exactly did SPD locate shell casings? Did they specify?

Chuck January 18, 2022 (4:52 pm)

Yes, I saw them.. Directly in front of the main walk into the building from the sidewalk on Charlestown.

David January 18, 2022 (9:42 am)

11:40:48 pm per our Nest cameras

James January 18, 2022 (10:33 am)

Heard this too. It sounded like a driveby. I was far from it though.

newnative January 18, 2022 (4:33 pm)

A drive by is when someone shoots from a car, not at a car from the sidewalk.
Thomas A Wood January 20, 2022 (8:51 am)

SPD and property owners of apartment building met with neighborhood Wednesday night.Where was Lisa who heads the public safety committee. You would think she would at least have a representative at the meeting.

Phil January 18, 2022 (10:46 am)

I live 3 blocks away from the reported intersection on 50th ave SW. I heard the same. 3-4 shots followed by a car speeding off. Sounded like it headed west on Charlestown.

Concerned January 18, 2022 (11:15 am)

I was an ear-witness to this last night. I think someone was trying to send a message to someone else. It all started with a very loud car sitting stationary and revving it’s engine/exhaust for what seemed like a fairly long time (probably only a few seconds though) to perhaps get attention. Followed shortly after by 4 rapid shots and then the sound of the vehicle taking off at high speed West on Charlestown. A few seconds later, a not so loud car traveling very fast made it’s way East on Charlestown and up the hill.

Jort January 18, 2022 (12:43 pm)

Lawyers of West Seattle Blog – would multiple eyewitness statements of the suspect firing a gun at a vehicle from an apartment balcony (in which it the eyewitnesses state that the suspect is an occupant) be considered “probable cause” for a search warrant of the apartment? I’m curious why one would not be executed given ample evidence, backed up by eyewitness statements, for a crime committed on the property. Perhaps the police too “understaffed” to request a search warrant?

My two cents … January 18, 2022 (6:28 pm)

Why do you feel the need to troll with your comments? Idle speculation just reinforces current or underlying thoughts. This is akin to someone asking about voter fraud based on getting more votes than last time and still losing. Sorry this item isn’t about transportation issues where are you normally like to incite back-and-forth.
- anonyme January 19, 2022 (8:07 am)
  
  I think Jort’s question is valid. He made one snarky comment about police understaffing that is not entirely unjustified. It sounds like there is ample, ongoing evidence against these individuals and it is reasonable to either expect some kind of charges against them – or to know the justification for not doing so.
- WS98 January 19, 2022 (8:59 am)
  
  Jort’s got a great point about this problem, the suspect is known and has been the root cause of shootings MULTIPLE times. Is it going to take death by a stray bullet of an innocent person walking nearby, a resident in that building, or in a neighborhood home before action is taken to apprehend the person and gun??
  
  It’s obvious the property management company isn’t going to do anything and our neighborhood can’t accept this a normal occurrence.
  - WSDUDEMAN January 19, 2022 (12:24 pm)
    
    We have spoken with the property management company. They wanted the person gone long ago. Their hands are tied until an actual crime is documented…..same thing the Police said….I’m as baffled as you probably are. Per Jorts comment, does the eyewitness change this situation now??? There is also a constant stream of suspect cars parked in front of said apt on Charlestown. I’ve witnessed more than once, people passed out behind the wheel with drug paraphernalia on their laps….. police never came by on both occasions. One time, I had to pound on the guy’s window as he was slumped over the wheel with his vehicle (with no plates) in drive. Once he came to, he flailed around in his car, making inaudible agonizing screams. He ran up into the apt in question, stumbled back into his vehicle and finally drove off over the corner curb then accelerated South on 48th as a bunch of kids were walking to school.
    - newnative January 19, 2022 (3:12 pm)
      
      Instead of calling the cops to report a crime or banging on an unknown person’s car window, call 911 with a medical emergency and state there is an unconscious person in a running car.
- Jort January 19, 2022 (3:14 pm)
  
  We are constantly told that the police are hear to “protect” us, yet here we have an obvious and serious public safety risk, which has been repeated multiple times, with eyewitness reports, an identifiable suspect and … I guess I’m wondering what the point of the police is if they’re just going to shrug their shoulders and act like nothing can be done? This is a pretty egregious public safety concern. What do the police actually plan to do here? Anything? How many more shooting incidents does this particular neighborhood need to witness and endure? Does a neighbor need to be shot before the police decide to go knock on the known suspect’s door and ask them? What are the Seattle Police supposed to do here, and why aren’t they doing it? Would it have helped if the suspect was a 69-year-old man with a BB gun? That seemed to draw out 48 officers. Again: I am told constantly that the police are here to “protect” us. What is the point of the police if they can’t respond to this kind of basic public safety threat with nothing more than excuses and buck-passing?

SWLiving January 25, 2022 (9:17 pm)

Last night and todays festivities did not let down. The deeply tinted windows, white Taurus without license plates, sat outside the apartment complex 1:30-9:30am, erratic horn honking and brake pumping each time the driver was eager for an adjusted high. The woman went to and from car to apt four or five times. Cops came two hours after calls but just cruised by, not finding them blacked out inside car.The car returned this afternoon, only to have a cop pass this time and make eye contact, causing the Taurus to speed off, cop to flip around sirens on and CHASE the car up Charlestown hill. I truly hope they got him but unfortunately chicky exited the apt shortly after, looking confused at where her ride may have disappeared to, aka she wasn’t in the car to get busted.This woman is surely involved in recent episodes but I urge everyone to keep their eyes open, as there are others involved. Just tonight I chased off two young gentleman, acting suspicious in a red Toyota Sedan, parked along Charlestown. As soon as I asked what they are up to, they ran to the white government owned home on the other side of the Park, on Charlestown. I watch repeat offenders coming and going from that house, climbing into parked cars with bags of goods. Every single day AT LEAST one car parks along Charlestown outside the complex or along the park. Cars sit there approximately 10 to 30 minutes, flashing their brights as if to give a sign, then another car pulls up facing or behind them and the deals, getting high (or more likely both) begin. Interestingly the cars always leave exactly one hour afterwards. It’s bonkers how many have got to be related to these issues and we as neighbors must watch and report their patterns to get back to being safe again.