CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: New info about Alki shooting investigation (more added Thursday)

| Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

(Monday night photo by Christopher Boffoli)

9:09 PM: Two nights after two people were shot on Alki, we have a bit of new information. This emerged at the District 1 Community Network meeting tonight, which – as we mentioned in last night’s followup – usually has a Southwest Precinct leadership representative in attendance. Tonight it was night-shift commander Lt. Nathan Shopay, who was asked about the investigation by a D1CN attendee. To the question of whether the shooting was indeed random, as preliminary information indicated on Monday night, Lt. Shopay said it still seems to be that way, and might even have been a case of someone else being targeted and the shooters missing their mark. There was “another group” in the area at the time, and that group “ran away” once the shooting started, he said. He also noted that the two victims were apparently there because they were “Pokémon-hunting.” Still no information on how the victims are doing. (The rest of the D1CN meeting focused mostly on port issues, and we’ll have that report separately tomorrow.)

10:22 PM: A commenter notes that a TV story tonight identifies one of the victims. It also includes a link to this GoFundMe page set up to help cover her expenses.

ADDED 1:53 PM THURSDAY: City Councilmember Lisa Herbold relays additional information from Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Martin Rivera:

(Gun Violence Reduction Unit) Detectives are actively searching for relevant video evidence and contacting witnesses for follow-up interviews. They also plan to speak with the victims today, now that they are in stable medical condition. The 32 casings that were recovered at the scene are being processed for NIBINS [database] hits.

Our best information at this time is that the victims were caught in the crossfire between at least three individuals who were shooting at each other. We have no information at this time that the victims were connected to the shooters in any way.

Alki resident November 2, 2022 (10:13 pm)

There’s a full story on Komonews that identifies the victim.

WSB November 2, 2022 (10:22 pm)

One of them, anyway. Thanks. I’m adding the GFM link above.

Pete November 3, 2022 (7:36 am)

Wow. That’s really disturbing. I had assumed that there must have been some kind of prior altercation, something, anything that would motivate someone to fire 20 plus shots at a stranger. This is terrifying and baffling. How would someone get shot so many times as a bystander? Were the victims targeted?They seem like really nice people out doing something wholesome and a little dorky. What a world :(

Raven November 3, 2022 (8:24 am)

Husband describes chaotic scene after wife wounded in drive-by at Alki Beach:https://komonews.com/news/local/husband-describes-chaotic-scene-after-finding-wife-wounded-in-drive-by-at-alki-beach

fitz November 3, 2022 (12:55 pm)

Ask the West Seattle council member Lisa Herbold if she thinks less police is still the answer.

Smoosh November 3, 2022 (3:58 pm)

Three things are now guaranteed: death, taxes, and people falsely claiming the police were defunded.
- bradley November 3, 2022 (4:14 pm)
  
  Oh good, you believe that Defunding has not happened? How about Jobs Abandoned because of Political Climate? Does that suit you better?
- Scubafrog November 3, 2022 (9:17 pm)
  
  The defund rhetoric by then-mayor Durkan, and the Seattle Council wasn’t false. Why would the SPD stay, in an anti-police climate. However, to place blame squarely on Herbold’s shoulders for ‘defund rhetoric’, or this rise in crime, is inherently inaccurate. Many factors are to blame for today’s crime rate in Seattle, including the pandemic, too few police officers, income inequality, historic inflation, addiction, repeat offenders, no serious consequences, lack of mental health resources to name several.
  - Paul Hage November 4, 2022 (3:28 pm)
    
    True
  - alki_2008 November 4, 2022 (8:06 pm)
    
    I feel like we could add poor parenting to the list of contributory factors.
- Rhonda November 4, 2022 (12:16 am)
  
  https://www.theurbanist.org/2020/11/24/seattle-city-council-passes-2021-budget-with-18-cut-to-police-department/
WS Res November 3, 2022 (4:41 pm)

Maybe there’s other forces at work making it hard to retain officers.
Kmonique November 3, 2022 (11:21 pm)

It’s so Interesting how Herbold was ALL about defunding the police and then, flip flopped and is now on board for funding etc etc. last I checked. ABOVE ALL ELSE ( political views aside) our elected leaders’ primary objective is to keep their constituents SAFE. Which Lisa has proven already that it is not her first priority.
Dan November 8, 2022 (12:31 am)

Curious what level of police funding exactly would have stopped this?

WSB November 3, 2022 (1:56 pm)

Just added additional new details relayed by Councilmember Herbold from the Southwest Precinct commander.

Frog November 3, 2022 (2:18 pm)

Another gunfight at the Alki corral. It would be nice if they could post their schedule (maybe list it on WSB) so other people could avoid the crossfire.

Salon Pas November 3, 2022 (4:00 pm)

The Gun Violence Reduction Unit was who my dash cam video recordings were turned over to when a driver in Highland Park brandished a firearm at me. The video captured the entire incident including the driver drawing the gun and aiming it at me, as well as the make, model, and license plate of the driver. It’s been more than two months and I’ve yet to hear back from this unit about the incident.

Alki Resident November 4, 2022 (8:49 am)

Thanks WSB for staying on top of this story. It will be interesting to hear what comes out of the interviews with the people shot. It didn’t make any sense that the police initially said it appeared to be a drive by/random. The detective that spoke that night hopefully learned to only tell the public what you know instead of making assumptions. In addition to more police presence, one solution could be by starting a grass roots effort with neighbors here on Alki and greater WS to protect yourself and others by installing camera’s/lights. Many deals out there and a great Christmas gift. If people know they’re on camera when they come over this way, criminals may think twice. We can get the word out via the Blog and local news channels. Camera’s won’t replace police but it’s a tool to provide SDOT, Parks Department, and Police when evidence of crimes. Just an idea for a solution.

findTheCriminalKeepUsSafe November 7, 2022 (10:48 am)

CCTV should happen now.The US doesn’t have a federal privacy law which means authorities are abandoned in ambiguous waters, but authorities can use Article 6.1.f of GDPR as a proxy since this is what European countries are relying on. BTW all tech companies based in US also use GDPR for data collection and processing because it’s the most comprehensive and restrictive law, rather than complying to single small laws like Virginia’s VCDPA, these FAANG companies use GDPR as a proxy.Seattle Police should hire a privacy program manager to implement the necessary safeguards which are also listed in https://gdpr-info.eu/, e.g. encryption at rest and in transit etc.https://gdpr-info.eu/art-6-gdpr/point (f) of the first subparagraph shall not apply to processing carried out by public authorities in the performance of their tasks.

Sorry, comment time is over.