CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: Suspect charged in Delridge murder; also believed responsible for other early Monday shooting

When we first reported on the Monday morning shooting that killed 56-year-old Anthony Gonzalez at a Delridge encampment, we mentioned police were investigating another shooting in a similar time frame, at 16th/Cambridge. Today the charging documents for Mr. Gonzalez’s accused killer, Jaycee C. Thompson, reveal police believe he’s to blame for the other shooting too. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged Thompson, who is 43, with second-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, attempted second-degree robbery, and second-degree unlawful firearm possession. The charging documents note the case remains under investigation and so charges might be upgraded or added, but for now, here is the story that prosecutors and police tell in those documents, describing what they call “a multi-location violent crime spree in West Seattle”:

Late Sunday night, several people were gathered in the alley behind the South Delridge 7-11 when Thompson drove up in what was later found to be a white work van stolen from Bothell. Thompson got out holding a “pistol-grip shotgun” and walked toward them. One of them, a man who says he’s a friend of Thompson’s, says the suspect seemed “agitated” and demanded money. The friend thought Thompson was joking – until he hit him with the shotgun. Less than an hour later, a 35-year-old man was shot at 16th/Barton (previously reported as 16th/Cambridge) and taken to a Burien hospital but immediately transferred to Harborview; he’s undergone multiple surgeries for removal of buckshot – associated with a shotgun – from his abdomen. That detail aside, the documents don’t say why Thompson is the suspect in that shooting. But a short time later, 911 calls started coming in about the 26th/Juneau encampment shooting. That’s where the kidnapping charge comes in; as we reported in our first followup, upon arrival at the camp, Thompson is reported to have held a man at gunpoint and demanded to be taken to “Gonzo” (the murder victim’s nickname). A witness who was in the victim’s “makeshift structure” talking with him when Thompson burst in said the suspect asked something like “Where’s the money and drugs?” but didn’t even wait for an answer before shooting the victim in the face, killing him. That witness said Thompson let them go, at which point they ran out into the encampment and told everyone to run because he had just killed “Gonzo.”

On Tuesday night, after a tip, they arrested Thompson near where the “spree” began in South Delridge. The stolen white van was found at 25th/Cloverdale. Police were still awaiting a warrant to search it when the court documents were written but reported that a shotgun was visible through the windows. Thompson remains in the King County Jail with bail set at $5 million.

23 Replies to "CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: Suspect charged in Delridge murder; also believed responsible for other early Monday shooting"

  • flimflam June 24, 2022 (6:59 pm)

    wow. again, how does the judge that let him out more than once sleep at night?

  • DRW June 24, 2022 (7:25 pm)

    And we (not everyone of course) want to defund SPD? Clearly we ALL need the SPD. Especially now. Just the last 2 days. Shooting on W Marginal. Shooting at the Safeway on Roxbury. Drive by shooting at Taco Time on 16th. Did I miss one to two more? All places that I go to. Its just a matter of time for all of us. Thank you SPD for all that you do. Now lets make sure this guy gets life in jail.

    • K June 24, 2022 (10:00 pm)

      These crimes are happening anyway, despite a fully-funded police department.  When people see roads that aren’t being maintained, they ask why we give so much money to SDoT and get so little in return.  It is not wrong to also ask why we give SPD so much money and get so little in return.

      • M June 24, 2022 (10:12 pm)

        Funded or Staffed?

        • K June 25, 2022 (11:20 am)

          I was responding to a comment about funding, so I limited my commentary to funding.  On staffing, is ANYONE fully staffed right now?  Who doesn’t have labor shortages?

      • Jethro Marx June 24, 2022 (10:18 pm)

        If you go to a carwash and they don’t clean the bird poop off your car it’s very reasonable to ask if you’re getting what you pay for. If you go to the car wash and demand satisfaction because birds have not stopped pooping on cars overall, that’s not really what they do. 

        • flimflam June 25, 2022 (8:37 am)

          @Jethro – great analogy!

          • Apotheosis June 25, 2022 (12:43 pm)

            Is it? Seems like a shi$&y analogy to me. Are birds committing crimes over and over without consequences because of irrational social justice dogma??? 

          • Jethro Marx June 26, 2022 (10:41 am)

            Neither birds nor anyone else is doing what you said. Birds gonna poop. People gonna crime. Neither is driven by dogma, nor stoppable by police. Police and carwashes respond to problems rather than prevent them.

    • Derek June 25, 2022 (8:24 am)

      Yes, I want to defund SPD. All day. Because we need money in mental health and other areas. Police are crazy funded and it still didn’t stop this crime.

  • Insertname June 24, 2022 (8:07 pm)

    Jeez. What a story. What a shocking act of violence. 

  • Auntie June 24, 2022 (8:56 pm)

    Interesting that the local news stations had a brief mention of the 26th & Juneau incident, but nothing about the 16th & Barton/Cambridge activity. Guess their “investigative reporters” aren’t very good at investigating.

    • WSB June 24, 2022 (10:11 pm)

      Investigative reporters don’t cover spot news (shootings, crashes, etc.). The second shooting was, as I initially wrote, a really complicated situation where the 911 call was made from White Center – south of downtown WC at that – as someone was taking the victim to a Burien hospital, and it took a while for them to extract the info that the shooting had happened in West Seattle. Unless they were listening closely to both the King County Sheriff’s Office southwest frequency and the Seattle Police south frequency, the assignment desk (tasked with monitoring events in the 20+-county market area) wouldn’t have picked up on it. Also probably a factor: The deadly shooting was written up in SPD Blotter, the other one was not (many non-fatal shootings aren’t). If it appears there, it’s an easy rewrite for the regionals. – TR

      • Auntie June 25, 2022 (10:11 am)

        Complicated! I see in this morning’s paper that Thompson is now a suspect in the 16th & Barton action. 

        • WSB June 25, 2022 (10:43 am)

          You didn’t need to read “a paper” to learn that. It’s in the headline and story above.

          • Auntie June 25, 2022 (10:59 am)

            What I meant was that now the mainstream media is mentioning the 16th & Barton episode, which they had previously passed over. Thanks for your comprehensive coverage.

          • WSB June 25, 2022 (1:08 pm)

            Only because it was in the charging document.

  • 1994 June 24, 2022 (9:56 pm)

    Keep him sitting in jail – for the rest of his living days.  Sounds like there is no reason to plead not guilty – except to waste more of our tax dollars.

  • Rocket June 25, 2022 (12:18 am)

    P2P is a hell of a drug.

    • Derek June 25, 2022 (8:27 am)

      You mean PCP?

    • Karl Winters June 25, 2022 (9:22 am)

      It sure is.   

  • B June 25, 2022 (11:21 am)

    Is Lisa Herbold going to take any action on this? 16th and Barton is in a residential area with tons of kids who play here, evidenced by the ice cream truck that comes through during the summer. I hope she is putting in the same efforts as she did with Nucor site to keep South Delridge / Highland Park safe. 

    • H June 25, 2022 (4:51 pm)

      Unlikely.  These issues along Barton (and Cambridge) have been on-going. The streets are unusable, unsafe and nothing changes.   

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