WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: North Delridge gunfire investigation

| Crime | Delridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

11:49 PM TUESDAY: For the second time in three nights, police are investigating gunfire reported in North Delridge. This time they got reports of gunfire outside the Youngstown Flats apartment complex at 4040 26th SW. So far officers report finding one bullet. Someone might have been injured but taken to a hospital before authorities arrived – dispatch told police one caller claimed someone had been hit, and though they didn’t find anyone at the scene, now they’ve learned a gunshot victim has arrived at Harborview Medical Center. (Added: An officer went to the hospital and later told dispatch it was indeed related. We hope to find out more later this morning.)

NOON WEDNESDAY: SPD tells us the report on this incident isn’t complete so they cannot provide additional information yet.

4:44 PM WEDNESDAY: We checked back and now have the redacted narrative:

On 04/01/2025 at approximately 2331 hours, I was dispatched to a 911 call of a SHOTS fired call at [4000 BLK] 26 AV SW.

Call on screen read: “1 MIN AGO, IN THE OLD BARTELLS PARKING LOT, 10 SHOTS HEARD, ONE VEH SPED OFF, 5 TEENS IN THE PARKING LOT, BELLIGERENT”

Upon arrival, one of the witnesses (XXXX XXXX) was contacted by a backing officer. XXXX began relating that he was smoking a cigarette outside of his apartment at [4000 BLK] 26 AV SW, when he heard a commotion Northeast of his location at a parking lot north of his apartment complex. XXXX continued relating that there was a verbal dispute between two juvenile subjects outside of a vehicle that had its doors open, and another female was trying to intervene from inside the car.

XXXX related that then ONE shot was discharged and another 911 caller related [hearing] “Take me to the hospital, I just got shot.” Both subjects that were arguing, entered the same vehicle (described as Gold/Beige in color Older model Sedan with possible suspension issues) and they fled the location toward DELRIDGE WY.

DISPATCH advised that a gunshot wound victim had been dropped off at HMC. Another backing unit was requested to respond to the location to interview the victim.

GVRU was contacted to screen the call and requested officers to process the scene. Only ONE UNSPENT round was located in the parking lot, along with an empty can of liquor. Both of these items were collected and entered into evidence.

GVRU is the Gun Violence Reduction Unit. The report had no information on the shooting victim or their condition.

WSzombie April 2, 2025 (5:05 am)

I feel like the only thing that will stop this from happening is going to have to be a genuine tragedy. If 100 people are targets/witnesses to a shooting, but NOBODY talks to the police to help them, we can’t expect this to ever end. Are people just waiting until it’s theier family hurt before they decide to help? Come on people, this is YOUR community getting shot up.

@WSB is there somewhere we can watch for updates for any of tue previous shootings over the past year? I know you track them, there’s just been so many that it seems like they are going unsolved. Shootings like the 15 year old in High Point haven’t had any updates, but I could have missed it.

Lauren April 2, 2025 (11:07 am)

This country has had many genuine tragedies (Sandy Hook and Uvalde to name just two), and nothing has happened.
- WSzombie April 2, 2025 (2:39 pm)
  
  @LaurenI understand that. However, that is a national issue. My post was directed at our small community. WE need to speak up to help prevent crime and catch the criminals locally. It’s not a national policy change, but we can all do better to make our small little section better. We need to represent the change we want to happen. If we can’t change how we behave in a daily basis, how can we expect to change the whole country? What credibility does someone have when saying, “ban guns” if they watch senseless shootings without giving details to the police?
  - Lauren April 3, 2025 (10:12 am)
    
    @WSZombie “Moms Demand Action” is a good nonprofit to look into if you want to get involved in local action.

North Admiral Cyclist April 2, 2025 (5:14 am)

This is why we need to invest in gunshot location systems, more public traffic cameras, and drone quick response systems. Law enforcement can only do so much on their own. They need technological help and we have to get past all the silly objections to “big brother”. This is about public safety and people are getting their neighborhoods shot up by a few hoodlums – not to mention street take-overs. Cities with these modern tools are able to dispatch a drone to the area of gun fire within a couple of minutes to help law enforcement quickly evaluate and manage these incidents.

Jake April 2, 2025 (9:47 am)

Those are a scam and don’t work. Every city that had them stopped using them and they also focus on marginalized communities. They are problematic.
- Al King April 2, 2025 (3:10 pm)
  
  Jake. So, if a shooting occurs in a “marginalized community” You don’t want police investigating as it would be wrong, and the community would feel “picked on”???
- TAnderson April 3, 2025 (9:59 pm)
  
  “Every city that had them stopped………..” Pretty bold statement that in addition to not being true it’s just strange to make such a grandiose statement to begin with I think.
Dwg April 2, 2025 (9:51 am)

Shotspotter and the like have been proven to be ineffective at pinpointing shooting locations, a waste of money, and divert needed police resources elsewhere.
Jay April 2, 2025 (10:20 am)

911 callers immediately notify police where shots are fired and there’s a cop shop right down the street. Shot Spotter is proven not to work. Any delays are caused by the blue flu – especially the street takeovers that take cops over an hour to respond to.
K April 2, 2025 (11:12 am)

Super curious which city uses these, finds them effective and is able to dispatch drones, etc. Every city I know of that tried them stopped using because they are unreliable and wasted city resources.
Rhonda April 2, 2025 (12:48 pm)

The Shot Spotters are ridiculously inaccurate. North Delridge neighbors by the dozens were able to pinpoint both of the recent shootings to 911 and were far more accurate and descriptive than a microphone can ever be. “Big Brother” is a real concern and we don’t want to turn into a surveillance state like China, North Korea, or Cuba. London has cameras EVERYWHERE, yet robbers, muggers, shooters, and stabbers still get away at a dismal rate. Gadgets and surveillance are reactive. Watching crimes occur is pointless. We need to be proactive to prevent violent crime. That means cutting the trafficking of illegal drugs, putting gang members behind bars, heavy police presence at impromptu memorial gatherings for victims of revenge shootings, etc. More funding needs to go to gang units and the hiring of more gang crime detectives. Enforcement of low-level crimes also needs to be prioritized because they create an environment for high-level crimes to flourish.
- Steph April 2, 2025 (3:22 pm)
  
  Well said!
- North Admiral Cyclist April 2, 2025 (6:09 pm)
  
  It’s clear from the comments there are strong sentiments against Shot Spotters. The federal study I saw from Redwood City showed it was able to “triangulate gunfire within 25 feet 72% of the time”. Maybe not a total scam or ridiculously inaccurate. Regardless of whether the shot detection approach works or not, I think it is pretty clear what we are doing is not working. We can’t let so much gun violence take over. Who wants to live like this? And the old ways of dispatching a police cruiser to a “scene” after the fact is simply obsolete. The police need help (and it’s not coming from a big increase of police presence any time soon). We need to expand the capability of our current police staffing – whether it is more cameras or drones or something. We need a new approach, and my comment is I personally don’t find more cameras a worry. I’m more afraid of becoming like North Korea by what’s going on in the White House than from more local traffic cameras. My experience in London and other major European cities is that I always felt safe..
  - Jake April 3, 2025 (8:47 am)
    
    Increasing surveillance is not a way I want to live… I don’t want cops spying on my home when I am just chilling in my backyard.

Seth April 2, 2025 (8:17 am)

This is actually the third report of gunfire in north deridge in three days. There were multiple reports on 30th and nevada about that area a day or two ago that I dont think got reported on here but multiple 911 calls and police out that way. Theres clearly some sort of gang war or something going on. Crazy I walk my dog around here every day.

WSB April 2, 2025 (8:59 am)

There are always other reports but if they’re not confirmed – police go out but don’t find evidence, victim, etc.- we generally don’t report them. For example, daytime reports of shots the day after 26/Brandon/etc. 100+ shots turned out to be fireworks at EC Hughes park. – TR

Jc April 2, 2025 (9:29 am)

I live in Youngstown Flatts, and it’s normally pretty quiet around here. I did not hear the gunshot that was supposedly fired last night. Though I’m sure that some people in my building did. However, I did hear the hundred shots that went off the other night, and I personally thought they were fireworks from the way they sounded. I have two teenage boys that hang out in this neighborhood. There’s also a large amount of families here that their kids playing outdoors in the woods next door. It pains me to think that that could go away due to all this. Where I don’t like being spied on, I do feel that more cameras would definitely help areas like the Delridge playfields and park. Or other areas of concern where problems seem to happen, like the parks down by 26th and Brandon. Nothing will change with guns unless we change our culture. Everyone seems to have a solution, but yet nothing works because no one can agree on the right path.

Jay April 2, 2025 (10:37 am)

I’d argue that Delridge park and field are of the best activated and most safe places in this entire neighborhood. The money we spent to update play equipment, build the skatepark, and convert the field to turf was a fantastic investment. Maybe Greg Davis or Cottage Grove need skateparks too.
- If April 2, 2025 (1:52 pm)
  
  I agree that park is very safe and I have no problem sending my kids to play there, however, I’ve been in this neighborhood for nine years now, and the amount of gunfire related to the homeless encampments scared me, but now those encampments are gone, and so the fact that gunfire has returned is disconcerting. It makes me evaluate things a little differently.

YTFResident April 2, 2025 (11:36 am)

I live at Youngstown and as I was going to bed, I witnessed some sort of fight that led up to the shooting. I heard but didn’t see the gunshot. It was only one shot and there was no one screaming or yelling after that, so I originally thought it was more of a warning shot to break it up. Regardless, cars left the parking lot very shortly after and police cars showed up. I dialed into the emergency hotline to share the information I had. I’ve seen or heard many things happen in this parking lot over the years and I believe the owners of West Seattle Corporate Building need to hire security again to monitor this area because the 3 dark parking lots does allow for folks to linger.

Katrina April 2, 2025 (12:39 pm)

We live on 26th and Brandon where the center of most of the activity was on Sunday night. Truly terrifying. Our house sustained bullet damage (and I came pretty close to being hit myself) as did many of our neighbors’ homes. The area needs much better lighting for one thing. There are often cars hanging around in groups next to the park that seem a bit suspicious (our living room window looks out on the park) and I don’t think that would happen as much if there was good lighting.
Yes,there is gang related activity. I believe it was in October 2023 that there was a big coordinated fentanyl bust (multiple places in Seattle, Portland and CA) and a fentanyl house on 26th south of Brandon was busted. After a neighbor’s property was tagged some time later, the police told us that ever since that bust there have been gangs fighting over the area.

WSB April 2, 2025 (4:59 pm)

Updated with police narrative.

WS Neighbor April 2, 2025 (10:10 pm)

What if we add food trucks to 26th and Barton? Get foot traffic in, have lighting and a community, plus patrons and food truck owners cleaning up the area.

1994 April 2, 2025 (10:57 pm)

Juveniles with guns is just bad juju….. juveniles caught with guns need bigger consequences to get the message that guns are not cool…….From the police narrative: there was a verbal dispute between two juvenile subjects outside of a vehicle that had its doors open,

Sorry, comment time is over.