West Seattle, Washington
03 Friday
As of minutes ago, Delridge is still blocked off between Holden and Thistle, more than five hours after a police car collided with a Volvo station wagon. The P-I has posted some details of what led to the crash. We watched the Volvo get towed from Delridge/Thistle at 9:15 (night-visionish photo below), but the wrecked police car was still in the street further north down Delridge. 10:30 UPDATE: Still closed. That’s our last in-person check for the night; if anyone discovers it open in the hours to come, please post that in the comments here.
An e-mail tip tells us Delridge is blocked off at Thistle because of an accident — city 911 site shows a big response – we will check out shortly, more info to come. 4:47 PM UPDATE: First photo from the scene. 5:00 UPDATE: Channel 7 tv says an officer is injured in this wreck, but will be ok. 5:45 UPDATE: The closure now extends westbound on Thistle to 22nd, in addition to closing off Delridge. 7:05 UPDATE: Checked again, and this time officers were closing Delridge at Holden on the north; it’s still closed till just before Cloverdale on the south.
Lots of notes about the fire this morning at Longfellow Creek Apartments (5915 Delridge, same area as one of the recent shootings). 11:30 AM UPDATE: This photo just in from WSB reader Joel (thank you!); more info beneath it. 2:56 PM UPDATE: Some video here.
ORIGINAL 10:26 AM POST: Here’s WSB reader Sage K’s eyewitness account from the inbox (thank you to everyone who wrote!):
A fire started around 4 am in the Longfellow Creek Apartments @ 5915 Delridge Way SW. The fire was contained to D building where it started and no one was seriously hurt. Apparently the fire started when someone on the ground level was smoking in bed and set an oxygen tank on fire. The fire-starter got some minor burns to their feet from trying to stomp the fire out and was taken to the hospital for treatment. But no one else had injuries. The fire spread up the back side of the building through the balconies and to the roof. The roof was vented over the fire and damage was mostly contained to those 2 apartments right above the flash point. Several people will be displaced; the Red Cross was on hand to help them with accommodations. A Metro bus was brought in for the displaced people to wait in out of the cold until everything was sorted out and they were able to be escorted in to gather some belongings. I saw around 8 fire trucks, 2 command vehicles and a command post along with a few aid cars. By about 8am most of the scene was cleared and vehicle access was returned to Delridge. I live in (a different) building of that complex as was lucky enough to be as far as possible from the fire. People here were really good about helping out their neighbors in their time of need.
7:30 tonight @ Delridge Community Center, the West Seattle Skatepark Action Committee meets; WS-based city skatepark advocate Matt Johnston says it’s open to anyone wanting to join (or find out more about) a group of people “working hard to create safe public facilities for skateboarders in West Seattle, that respect the communities they are placed in, and provide healthy and active places for kids and big kids to enjoy this popular sport.” (You can read more about where WS falls into the Citywide Skatepark Plan here.)
We wanted to make sure everyone saw this note added late last night as a comment on both of our recent posts about the Delridge shootings, since the event is tonight. (A reader had described it here as a “block watch” meeting but it’s much more.):
For those residing in North Delridge please come to the North Delridge Neighborhood Council monthly meeting … Wednesday August 1st, at the Delridge Library. Meeting starts at 6:30 and ends at 7:45. One of SPD’s finest, Community Police Team Officer Brian Ballew, will be present to fill in folks on the recent shootings.
Relentless citizen pressure is, and will continue to make a difference. Never hesitate to call 911, because if you think it looks strange, I will almost guarantee that it is strange.
Mike Dady Co-Chair – North Delridge Neighborhood Council
From the eyewitness who first told us all about Sunday morning’s shooting, second one in a short stretch of Delridge in two days:
I talked to my neighbor today and she said that an officer paid her a visit, as a follow up to Sunday’s shooting. The officer told her that apparently there is a turf war going on between gangs in White Center and West Seattle. There seems to be a house or apt. around the 5600 block of Delridge that is bringing them down here. As of yet they are not exactly sure what address or people.
The officer said that Sunday’s shooting was in retaliation for Thursday’s shooting. They encouraged her to call the police if you see groups of 2 or more around the 5600 Block late at night that appear to be doing anything like through gang signs or getting loud etc. they hope that if they can bother them enough they will move on.
Also of note there will be a block watch meeting at the Delridge library on Wednesday August 1, 2007 @ 6:30 pm. I encourage everyone in the neighborhood to attend. This is our neighborhood and we don’t have to put up with this cr*p!
The P-i has finally picked up on the one we reported here yesterday, with a story looking at whether the two recent shootings might be related.
This one doesn’t seem to have been covered by the “traditional media.” However, the online 911 logs verify an “assault with weapons” call in the area at the time the letterwriter mentions, about three blocks south of Thursday night’s shooting. Here’s the e-mail we received, verbatim:
There was another shooting just up the street on Delridge early this morning. At the intersection of Delridge way sw and sw Juneau st. There was a shooting at approx. 1:50 am July 29, 2007.
The incident started with a car stop in the northbound lane of Delridge just after the intersection there where 4 young black males verbally arguing in the street. The car then pulled over and parked and another young black man got out. The 3 from the car proceeded to get into a physical fight with 2 other men. The fight seemed to have broken up with the 3 running back to their car when one of those 3 fired 5 shots in the direction of the other group and hit one of them.
The car speed off northbound on Delridge. The victim was hit in the head with a grazing wound. There were several eyewitnesses to the event who gave statements to the police. Who responded very promptly, they arrived at the scene just after the car left and ran to help the victim. Soon there where 3 fire trucks and 7 police cars, the intersection was taped off and evidence collected. The police said that the young man should be fine.
The gang unit was out and the victims companion refused to give a statement. Which in my opinion supports this incident being gang related. This is the second shooting in a 5 block stretch of Delridge in 4 days. In addition the police mention a driveby earlier in the week. I was the eyewitness who saw everything and gave a statement.
Hope this helps others in the community to be aware and to call things in. It’s okay to make a non-emergency call to 911 to report suspicious activity.
The Times says the victim is a student at SSCC; both the Times and P-I updates say the gunshots may have followed some kind of squabble over a ring. No particular description of who they’re looking for, just that a red minivan might have been involved.
We saw the fire call online for “assault with weapons” at 5626 Delridge; the P-I’s Big Blog has a few details (near the bottom of this post) — one man shot, taken to Harborview Medical Center. FRIDAY 9 AM UPDATE: P-I has a few more details; so does KIRO tv, with a pic.
Our blogland-trolling picked up this tale. (Wonder where exactly he meant by the “Delridge projects.”)
If you’re still in the market for a fan or air conditioner you’re not completely out of luck, but you’re running out of choices.
Here’s the mini-AC shelf at the Delridge Home Depot as seen just before noon.
And as of lunchtime this is what the fan aisle at Target looks like.
Back on Flag Day, our photo post featuring the megaflag at the SGA building on the north end of Delridge generated a side discussion about the building’s fate. Just looked up its for-sale listing: $32,500,000. (Maybe when Paul runs out of property to buy on the other side of the city? WS needs a streetcar too!)
Big article in today’s Times about the West Ridge Park condo-conversion project and Delridge-area housing development in general. Notable infobits in the article include the WRP developers’ expectations that only about a dozen of the 200-plus tenants will buy their units.
-Funny, we were just talking about Fauntleroy Place: A city council committee agenda that just landed in our inbox mentions a “possible vote” next Monday morning regarding the “alley vacation” that is a key part of the FP project.
-Another council committee has a briefing at 2 pm today regarding the latest version of the citywide skatepark plan. Two (updated from first version of this post; thanks to the reader who corrected us) proposed WS skateparks are currently on the list: Roxhill and Delridge.
-The city kicked off a push for low-flow showerheads today. If you haven’t tried ’em, you might be surprised. We converted to one during a remodel a few years back and it’s really not that dramatic a change.
Progress on two in-the-works coffee shops within a mile of each other on Delridge: First, the coffee-shop-in-progress at 5605 Delridge now has a name on its awning – “Pacino’s Coffee.” Second, at 4800 Delridge, exterior work is mostly done (photo below) at the sister shop to Bubbles on Alki; a WSB reader tells us she stopped in recently and heard they hope to open by month’s end, offering savory treats (crepes, sandwiches) as well as coffee & bubble tea.
Scroll to the end of this P-I story for map/stats: 6000 16th (SSCC) and 6900 Delridge.
According to this short report, a toddler is in critical condition after falling off a balcony. No address specifics in that report, but the online Fire Department log lists a major medic call in the 5400 block of Delridge (near Brandon) this afternoon.
As mentioned in the city’s latest neighborhoods newsletter (page 4), the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association is hoping to eventually buy the former Boren Junior High — now used as interim home to schools under renovation, Cleveland HS at the moment. It’s doing an architectural study to look at the 14-acre site‘s potential, with the thought that it could hold more than 400 housing units and tens of thousands of square foot of commercial space. (The Boren building doesn’t seem to have much preservation value, unlike the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, but you can read about its history here.)
TV news report (can’t find it written up online anywhere) says 7 people went to the hospital after a crash in WS this morning; pictures showed several crunched cars, one even upside-down. Online 911 logs show the rescue callout went to the 7700 block of Delridge at 9:23 am.
Some kind of a standoff happening — just caught a bit of a tv report – here’s an e-mail report from a witness – needless to say, sounds like an area to stay away from! (If you’ve got pix, send ’em to us.) 5:57 PM UPDATE: One comment quotes a media site as saying it’s over. Also, Slog has scene photo. 8:18 PM UPDATE: More details from the P-I.
A guy took an axe to his ex’s beamer– and is now holed up inside a house in 5200 block of 25th ave SW.Neighbors not being allowed access.. big cop presence.Axe is still hanging on the broken windshield
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