Two weeks ago today, a West Seattle woman was robbed at gunpoint at the BECU ATM next to the Mobil gas station in Morgan Junction. Tonight, we are sharing her open letter of gratitude to those who helped her afterward:
I write to express my thanks to all of you who helped out a couple weeks ago.
As you may have read about in the WSB post, I was robbed at gunpoint at the ATM on a bright and sunny Sunday morning (September 10). The incident took place so quickly that I could hardly believe it happened, though I’m pretty sure I immediately went into shock. Afterward, I remember running into the gas station area asking for help, that I’d just been robbed. Apparently, I was also repeating the license plate number of the getaway car over and over, though I didn’t realize I was doing that out loud!
I am so very grateful for all of you that helped out in that moment, with your time and energy, kindness and compassion. I’d sometimes wondered how people could be helped out in an incident and afterward not know the names of the people who had helped them. And now, well, I understand! I have no idea what any of your names are. I don’t know where you live, or what you do.
What I DO know is this. I remember a man in a reddish button-up shirt who walked over to me, asked if I wanted a hug (I did), asked if my car was still there (it was), asked if I wanted to sit down, and walked me over to sit down in my car while encouraging me to breathe. I remember him saying that he didn’t have his phone that day, or he’d loan it to me to call home (I did not yet realize that I still HAD my phone in the car). I also remember three different people who all had their phones out talking to 911 so quickly after I asked for help. I’m not sure if they were the same ones, but there were also multiple people who came and checked in on me and expressed concern before they headed out. There was a woman across the street who noticed “an odd number of people really close to the ATM,” and took a picture of the getaway car as it peeled out and drove away. She stuck by me the whole rest of the time, passed her phone to me to talk to 911 dispatch, and just made sure I was okay through the whole conversation with police and until my family came. Her consistent presence and empathy made all of it much easier.
The police also showed up quickly, and the officer who talked with me was calm and supportive the whole time. I noticed in the background all the other police officers buzzing around and talking with all of you who were in the gas station or parking lot when it happened.
I hope I thought to say thank you in the moment, but I’m honestly not sure if I did. So here it is again. Thank you so very much to all of you who supported me right after the robbery. It was such a scary experience, but then followed immediately with kindness. Though all of you were strangers, I felt well taken care of until my family arrived. I’m holding on to that gratefulness as I process all of the other feelings that come up.
I appreciate you!
If you have any tips in the case, the police incident # is 23-262270.
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