UPDATE: Suspect in custody after hours-long SWAT standoff that closed Delridge Way

| Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

(Added: Traffic camera screengrab, 10:30 am)

10:21 AM: Thanks for the tips. Avoid the Delridge/Brandon vicinity – major police response reported per readers, including SWAT. Both directions of Delridge are blocked. Metro says RapidRide H Line is routed off Delridge between Genesee and Orchard. We’re headed that way to find out more.

10:39 AM: Our crew has just arrived in the area and reports that Delridge is blocked from Findlay to Brandon. … This is all focused on someone in a unit at Cottage Grove Commons.

10:46 AM: We don’t know yet what started all this but the person they’re after is described as wanted for felony harassment. Our crew at the scene reports the SWAT officers have used a flashbang and are making loudspeaker announcements asking the suspect to come out. A K9 team is standing by as well. (They have to warn the suspect about that as well.)

11:15 AM: A nearby resident tells us the suspect broke out one of his windows earlier today and started throwing stuff out onto the street.

11:21 AM: Now, our crew reports, the PA announcements are telling the suspect he’s under arrest (once in custody) for property damage and resisting arrest. Again, street blocked and buses diverted in the area.

11:37 AM: After deploying “O.C. gas,” they have reported that the suspect is in custody, and they’re bringing in SFD to check him out.

11:45 AM: Next step, they’re searching the unit. He was reported to have been hitting things (including his door) with a “metal pipe.”

12:06 PM: Delridge Way has reopened.

2:28 PM: We asked police for details; they say this started at 6:23 am, when a 911 caller said the suspect had threatened someone with a “large metal pole.” He subsequently “barricaded himself inside his apartment,” and that’s what eventually led to the large response. The pole was recovered when officers – who obtained a search warrant – searched his apartment after the arrest, SPD says. He’ll be booked into King County Jail.

7:11 PM: That process often takes a few hours, but the 39-year-old suspect is there now.

Brant June 29, 2024 (10:37 am)

Unsure if this is related but just saw late model Ford sedan parked oddly (too near intersection, flashers on and door open) near Delridge and 23rd headed south. Car had no one visible and my be abandoned.

WSB June 29, 2024 (10:50 am)

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Thanks. The person they’re after is inside a unit at Cottage Grove Commons right now so probably not but that car sounds worth phoning in to 911 or at least Parking Enforcement.
Paula Bamburg June 29, 2024 (11:57 am)

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I saw that car there on Friday.

Sage K. June 29, 2024 (11:10 am)

I was wondering if that big boom was a flashbang. Thanks for being on top of things.

Delridge resident June 29, 2024 (12:08 pm)

Just drove by. Hard to fathom the response(20 cop cars & SWAT) was for a guy throwing stuff in the street. I would’ve guessed hostage situation or something. They also have no one in front of Cottage Grove right now but blocked off the block south of Cottage Grove?

WSB June 29, 2024 (12:59 pm)

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No hostage situation but I don’t have details yet on exactly how this started; the original dispatch was while we were off the desk at Sen. Nguyen’s town hall, and I haven’t been able to find the archived audio yet. One other person claimed the person who was arrested had been “acting up” since early this morning.
Rhonda June 29, 2024 (3:08 pm)

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If the suspect has a violent criminal history or there are reports of weapons in the situation it warrants a SWAT response like this. If it was just stuff being thrown around by a subject with no violent history or weapons reports, a few patrol units could deal with it.

WS resident June 29, 2024 (3:16 pm)

Wife and I really wanna move away from Delridge. Friday and Saturday nights are busy, loud, and full of sirens up and down Delridge. I like the hustle and bustle of a city, but crime and street racing and intersection take-overs for donuts are just too much of the noise that isn’t fun to listen to.

movedfromdelridge@gmail.com June 29, 2024 (9:06 pm)

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I did Just that, moved away from Delridge recently.Much better life: way fewer shootings, police responses and shady people walking around.When I first moved in there, I thought Delridge was an up -and -coming area, but things to be advancing too slowly for my nerves Regarding the Cottage Grove Commons, if I’m not mistaken it’s a low barrier permanent supportive housing. Which means that residents that are addicts are not required to seek treatment or rehab.
Karl June 30, 2024 (9:42 am)

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Yes. I want to move as well. When they built the precinct on Delridge l was glad, but my experiences with the police help haven’t been great. They wouldn’t get a warrant for the drug lab directly next door to me, even when I tipped them when the lab was active with a crew of eight. They openly carried cases of chemicals in and cooked for a year and a half before they moved on. And I got a nice ticket for expired tabs like ten hours past the exp. date. Thanks.

. WS resident June 29, 2024 (9:29 pm)

A man on the fifth floor of the building, meth crisis.Took window out with a lead pipe. They were going to send the dog in after he said he wouldn’t come out unless someone was dead. “If you send the dog in I’ll kill it with this pipe”. The we heard swat was there, they turned the electricity off. Then fired four smoke bombs in.

Ferns July 1, 2024 (12:16 am)

To think I missed all this action because I decided not to get donuts this morning. There’s often something on Delridge going on despite the infrastructure and housing improvements.

WSB July 1, 2024 (12:57 am)

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This happened Saturday morning, not Sunday.

Nanabanana July 1, 2024 (8:53 pm)

It’s really sad because this whole situation was handled poorly. Cottage Grove is known for housing people with mental Health disorders and yet they failed to evacuate the building before the flash bang. There are also Veterans with PTSD that live in the building. The suspect was having a schizophrenic episode since the night before and tried asking for help but the staff just blew him off if it woulda been handled correctly none of this woulda happened. Unfortunately it’s not the first and probably won’t be the last situation handled poorly by Cottage Grove staff. They definitely need better crisis training. Because now he’s in jail and his apt is trashed and he’ll probably be homeless again when he gets released

Tired July 6, 2024 (9:05 am)

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Look, if that were the case and he was having a episode then he clearly wasn’t taking his meds. He made that choice not to take them. That place is meant to rehabilitate people with mental health and addiction issues. If the person had become a constant problem, the staff was probably tired of dealing with him. He made his choice and now will have to deal with the consequences.