Last night at about 8:40 pm, SPD and SFD responded to a report of an assault at 35th/Henderson. Medics reported the victim was a man around 50 years old hit multiple times in the head with a golf club, according to archived audio we checked after a witness sent this reader report today:
I want to report an upsetting incident that happened last night. I witnessed a houseless man that was in front of the Southwest Branch library on 35th get attacked by a man with a golf club. I was walking my dog at 8:30 pm on 35th, saw the houseless man by the library when I first started my walk, and when I turned around to head back home there was a man dressed in all black (did not appear houseless) talking to him. The men started to argue and the victim was trying to shoo the other man away. The man in black then threw a bunch of liquid on the man’s face, the victim started running toward the Shell station on Henderson and unfortunately ran straight into the telephone pole. He hit the ground and the man and black who was chasing him started swinging the golf club at the victim’s head. I called 911 immediately and went into my apartment as the man with the golf club was also taking swings at cars that were passing by and honking.
With the 911 operator on the line I went back outside to see the victim being helped by another man who was out walking his dog and the Shell station employees. The police showed up quickly right as I returned to the scene. The victim had a bad head wound and was taken to the hospital. The man in black ran off, which is frightening because he truly came out of nowhere swinging and I’m convinced if a few of us hadn’t been walking our dogs on this cold night this would have resulted in a death. As far as I know this guy is still on the loose.
The only descriptive info we heard on recorded dispatch audio was: Black, male, about 5’8″, dressed – as the witness said – in all black, including a pulled-up hoodie. The dispatcher also mentioned a possible accomplice: white, male, black beanie and hoodie. We won’t have access to followup info from SPD until Tuesday; if you have information, the case number is 24-011199, and the violent-crimes tip line is 206-233-5000.
ADDED 3:35 PM: SFD says the victim was in stable condition when taken to Harborview Medical Center – by private ambulance, which generally means the injuries were not expected to be life-threatening.
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