(Monday night photo by Christopher Boffoli)
No arrests reported yet in last night’s shooting of a woman and man, both 37, near 62nd SW and Alki Avenue SW. Police have not commented since last night, when a briefing was provided at the scene and an SPD Blotter post with a few additional details followed. We asked them followup questions today but have yet to hear back. We also asked our area’s City Councilmember Lisa Herbold whether she had spoken to police leadership about the shootings. Here’s her reply:
Capt. Rivera let me know that SPD’s response included officers from other areas of the city. Further, this shooting was the subject of SPD’s weekly Gun Violence Reduction meeting today. As you know, the information that can be released is limited during an open investigation, but Capt. Rivera let me know that SPD will release updates when they can and the follow-up unit is still working the case and searching for evidence.
SPD had already deployed emphasis patrol throughout the area. Since emphasis patrols rely on assigning officers to overtime, the ability to staff the emphasis can be limited by capacity when there are higher priorities for officers on overtime.
Capt. Martin Rivera is commander of the Southwest Precinct, which handles West Seattle and South Park. He or one of his watch commanders may be at tomorrow night’s District 1 Community Network meeting (7 pm online, link will be in tomorrow morning’s West Seattle Wednesday preview list) if you’d like to ask a question. And the precinct itself (2300 SW Webster) will be the site of the twice-rescheduled community meeting with police at 6 pm Thursday, November 17th. Meantime, if you have any information about the shooting, the SPD tip line is 206-233-5000.
Meantime, with ongoing comment discussion touching on questions about accountability and what happens if/when someone is arrested, we looked back at three Alki shootings in which arrests were made during the past two years:
JUNE 2021 QUADRUPLE SHOOTING: This Alki shooting killed 22-year-old Tilorae Shepherd and injured three other people. Charging documents say it followed some kind of disagreement over fireworks. 19-year-old Milton Arnold III of Des Moines was arrested and charged with murder and assault. Arnold had no convictions but was at the time facing possible charges in a robbery and assault case in Des Moines. He remains in King County Jail, awaiting trial, with a status hearing later this month.
NOVEMBER 2020 SHOOTING: 35-year-old Garrett Heinemann of Alki was charged with assault for allegedly shooting a neighbor who was driving down an alley. The victim survived; the motive was a mystery. Heinemann, who has no criminal record, remains in the King County Jail, awaiting trial, with a status hearing next week.
FEBRUARY 2020 DOUBLE SHOOTING: An acquaintance of the two victims, both of whom survived, claimed the shootings happened in a robbery attempt, but an Alki business’s security video showed what really happened. 23-year-old Allan Hawley of Marysville pleaded guilty earlier this year and was sentenced to 7 years and 9 months in prison, as reported here, with credit for the two years he had already spent behind bars. Hawley had one past conviction, for burglary as a teenager.
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