West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
(Walkway at Jack Block Park, photographed by Doug B, who you can also find on Flickr)
Welcome to the weekend! From the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar, some of the highlights for today/tonight:
LAST SUPr ENDURANCE EVENT: Under way right now at Alki Kayak Tours, “a daylong celebration promoting the up and coming sport of stand up paddleboarding (SUP). This event will feature an endurance event which will determine who can stand on the SUP the longest. There will be challenging aspects along the route which will test SUP participants’ skills. The rules are simple, you must only use your feet in this contest. Any other part of your body touching the board will disqualify you.” More info here. (Update – We checked in at AKT around 11 – this has been rescheduled in hopes of a day with better weather!)
GARAGE SALES GALORE: Three weeks after West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day 2012, our neighbors to the south are having their annual multiple-sale day – Shorewood on the Sound Streets of Sales, 9 am-4 pm today. Find the sales on this Google map.
WEST SEATTLE GARAGE SALES, TOO: Several for this weekend are listed in the WSB Forums‘ Freebies/Deals/Sales section, where you can list yours for free any time.
FURRY FACES FOUNDATION PLANT SALE: More than 1,500 plants to choose from, all types, 3809 46th SW (map), from 10 am-4 pm – it’s the second and final weekend of this popular plant sale to raise money for F3’s animal advocacy.
CISCOE AT WEST SEATTLE NURSERY: 10 am this morning, the gardener/broadcaster will do his radio show live from West Seattle Nursery (California/Brandon).
RECOVERY GARDEN CLEANUP: Volunteers will be at 26th and Brandon from 10 am to 1 pm to continue the work that last year’s volunteers (some of whom will be there to mentor them) started. All welcome to come help.
STUDENT’S SALE TO HELP A SOLDIER: We reported earlier this week on 7th-grader Kyle Joyce‘s announcement of a sale to help put together a care package for his former coach, who’s been deployed overseas. The sale is 11 am-4 pm today at 6001 SW Admiral Way.
KITTY HARBOR’S OPENING WEEKEND: You’re likely to see a line along Harbor Avenue SW just north of the bridge right before noon, which is when shelter/adoption center Kitty Harbor begins its first adoption weekend of the summer season.
LIVE MUSIC AT VILLAGE GREEN: As announced by Village Green Perennial Nursery proprietor Vera Johnson, “Shade Byron banjo player from ‘Bottom of the barrel’ and Jasmine Byron, fiddler and traveling musician, will be gathering up a crew of fun musicians to play some music … Visiting from Santa Cruz for a short time – we are happy to welcome them here!” 1 pm, 10224 26th SW.
PROTECT YOURSELF FROM IDENTITY THEFT: Free workshop 1-3 pm today at Peace Lutheran Church (39th/Thistle), details here.
CARNIVAL IN ARBOR HEIGHTS: Big fun at Arbor Heights Elementary – as described in our calendar listing, 3-6 pm.
AARON DANIEL’S BENEFIT SHOW FOR AARF: A one-man band you have to see/hear to believe, Aaron Daniel, performs tonight at the Feedback Lounge (6451 California SW; WSB sponsor) as part of a benefit for Animal Aid and Rescue Foundation; silent auction too; 8 pm.
‘ROCKY HORROR’: First Saturday of the month ends with a toast, among other things, as the Admiral Theater opens its doors to “Rocky Horror Picture Show” fans for the monthly midnight showing.
Yet again tonight, police repeated the mantra of community watchfulness being the key to helping them catch criminals and solve crimes. While we’re finishing the story about the Beach Drive community-safety walk – during which that message was repeated – here are a few West Seattle Crime Watch notes from the WSB inbox:Read More
Here’s a chance for kids and tweens to be mentored for a day by high-school students: Children in grades K-5 are invited to the one-day Mini Cheer Camp that West Seattle High School cheerleaders are planning for Saturday, June 9th, 10 am-1 pm. They’ll learn cheers, make crafts, and get a chance to follow up the fun this fall by performing at a home football game as an honorary WSHS cheerleader. $30 for the day includes a T-shirt, and more; see the flyer here, and the registration form here. Contact Bev Corey at coreym_b@comcast.net if you have any questions.
Back in 2008, we got that vintage photo from Tom J, when the fate of the 1923-built Shoremont Apartments at 2464 Alki SW – the buildings seen behind Tom’s uncle and dad – was still in flux.
A year earlier, in 2007, the stately brick buildings were proposed for teardown, to be replaced by townhomes.
But then, the site was bought by architects known for their modern design projects, who proposed one instead of townhomes:
(2008 rendering)
The plan never came to pass, and eventually, the site became bank-owned. Exactly two years ago today, we reported a for-sale sign going up at the site.
Then came Dennis Schilling:
We photographed him at the Shoremont yesterday afternoon. But we first talked with him more than a year ago, after he bought the by-then-very-rundown buildings because he “liked” them; he told WSB at the time he planned to fix them up.
And he has made good on that promise. Most of the work is done, and two of the eight Shoremont Apartments are rented, more applications are in the works. Schilling gave us a tour:
Great beach view, from one of the lower units – note the original clear-grain fir floor. Upstairs, while he would have liked to have kept the flooring, noise rules meant they had to be carpeted:
The stairs are original:
And there are walk-in closets – including this one upstairs with a view!
The floor plans are close to the original layouts, says Schilling, adding that the work they had to do included some foundation improvements, especially for seismic reasons (including “shear walls”), plus all-new wiring. Out front, they had to build up the area in front of the main entrance door:
There had been something in front of that blank concrete wall for a bit, and therein lies a twist to this story – which Schilling e-mailed us (and King County Executive Dow Constantine) about on Wednesday:
During the construction process we have noticed that bus patrons did not have a place to sit while waiting for the bus at the stop in front of our property. We decided to make a gesture to the city and commission a custom bus bench at our expense.
While this bench was being constructed there must have been fifty people who expressed appreciation for the bench. Today a representative of the city approached us and told us to remove it or face daily fines. Apparently while the bench is not on any part of the sidewalk it does encroach on the City’s property.
The inspector did admit that there had been no complaints but that he was just driving by and doing his job. In order not to incur any fines we removed it while he waited. We just wanted to let people know that we were trying to do something nice for the city but have run afoul of bureaucracy.
The bench is now sitting on the west side of the Shoremont site:
We haven’t figured out yet which agency to ask about the bench beef, but plan to follow up. Meantime, if you’re interested in renting one of the Shoremont Apartments, you’ll have to go take a look at the postings on the windows at the site, which have more information.
Chief Sealth International High School athletic director Sam Reed and Illusions Hair Design (WSB sponsor) proprietor Sue Lindblom – in her Rotary Club of West Seattle vest – are two of the people we caught up with this morning at Rainier Golf and Country Club, scene of today’s 2nd annual Sealth Athletics benefit golf tournament. The late-spring showers were coming and going as participants hit the links around noontime, with the afternoon of golf scheduled to be followed by dinner and a raffle.
Some Seattle Public Schools parents may already have seen this in e-mail directly from the district (we got first word from Cami MacNamara of Webcami Site Design), and after what they describe as a few tweaks, the communications team has shared it with news media too: The bell times are out for next school year. Here’s the list. You might remember the uproar earlier this spring when the district suddenly pursued a transportation-plan change that might have drastically changed times for many, then scrapped most of the plan; this is the final result, and except for six schools (NONE in West Seattle), they’re described as mostly the same. Read on for the explanatory letter sent to families:Read More
(Photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand, added Friday night)
Just got word from Sharon Bang, co-owner of Alki Café, that they’re finally going to add dinner service. She says they’ll be open 8 am-8 pm seven days a week starting two weeks from today – Friday, June 15th. They’ll also have happy hours 3-6 pm (including beer, mimosa, and appetizer discounts), plus, Sharon says, they’ll have the breakfast/lunch menu available through dinnertime too.
Meantime, she says, across the street at their Beachside Café, there are some new team members including Sarah (photo below), former manager of the Alki Bakery that used to be at that location, and they invite customers old and new to drop by and say hi.
Beachside is currently open till 7 pm.
Last week, WSB commenter Petert suggested we make a map of who planned to sell liquor in West Seattle once privatization took effect. Today’s the day, so here’s the map. 17 retailers – but please note, we have not directly confirmed that each and every one of them is selling liquor right this moment; we can only verify that these are the places that sought licenses – both former state stores, now under private ownership; supermarkets (WSB sponsors Metropolitan Market and West Seattle Thriftway as well as all three Safeways, both QFCs, Trader Joe’s, and Target); and drugstores (Bartell Drugs, Rite Aid, and Walgreens, each with two locations in West Seattle). Please let us know through a comment or a note/text/call/etc. if you discover any of them NOT selling liquor yet – we know for sure the supermarkets were ready to go, for starters.
ORIGINAL 10:35 AM REPORT: Just getting notes from people who live/work in Highland Park. Not sure yet how widespread – it’s not on the Seattle City Light system-status map so we’re checking with them directly.
(Screen grab of affected area – except for Pathfinder, an isolated spot shown on the live map)
10:40 AM: Peter Clarke at Seattle City Light tells us the cause is that branches have fallen onto a line – almost 1,000 homes and businesses are affected. A commenter says Pathfinder K-8 is in the outage zone too. Restoration could take as little as an hour, or up to four hours, according to Clarke, who says a crew is on the way. (The outage is mapped now, too.)
11:07 AM UPDATE: The City Light map shows some spots in South Park are affected too (that’s also been mentioned in discussion on the WSB Facebook page). Pathfinder is apparently an isolated spot in Pigeon Point, which otherwise does not appear to be affected. If you’re in the outage zone, let us know when your power’s back – thanks! (And thanks again to everyone who sent word of this quickly, even before SCL had it mapped.)
11:35 AM UPDATE: Some are apparently back on, per SCL map. We went over to Highland Park Elementary after hearing they had lost power – they are continuing with classes, and all’s well otherwise.
12:02 PM UPDATE: Between the SCL map and comments, sounds/looks like just about everyone is back on. Let us know if you’re not.
From the weekly “lookahead” sent out on behalf of SDOT and WSDOT – it’s online, here – we get advance word of the next all-weekend Alaskan Way Viaduct/Highway 99 closure: Friday night 6/15 till Monday morning 6/18, so here’s your early warning.
(Sleeping hummingbird, photographed by Machel Spence)
Welcome to a new month! Here are the highlights for today/tonight:
EARLYBIRDS: If you see this within an hour or so of when we’re publishing it, you’re in time to go meet the West Seattle Earlybirds Toastmasters Club, meeting Friday mornings, 7:30 am, ArtsWest in The Junction.
HARBOR ISLAND TRANSFORMATION: Remember our story almost two weeks ago about Harbor Island People for the Environment? Come celebrate their cleanup/beautification achievement 4-6 pm today at 13th/Florida on Harbor Island.
WSHS ALL-SCHOOL REUNION: Whenever you went to West Seattle High School, you’re welcome at this annual event, which starts with classic cars on display along SW Stevens, 4:30 pm. The schedule of events is in our calendar listing.
SEALTH ATHLETICS BENEFIT GOLF TOURNAMENT: On the links at Rainier Golf Course and Country Club this afternoon! Here’s our most recent preview.
NEW TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION LOCATION IN WHITE CENTER: The Technology Access Foundation‘s project at Lakewood Park is open for previews tonight, 5-8 pm – more on our partner site White Center Now.
BATTLING BULLYING: Free screening of “Finding Kind,” suitable for 11 and up, at Pathfinder K-8 (details here).
TR RITCHIE AT C & P: Live music tonight at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), with TR Ritchie, 6-8 pm, an “unreconstructed folkie.”
TAKE A STAND FOR SAFETY: The long-awaited “safety walk” along Beach Drive is tonight, 6:30 pm, planned in response to the still-unsolved March murder of Greggette Guy, but magnified, in terms of the importance of community safety, by what has happened more recently. Meet at Emma Schmitz Viewpoint; all welcome.
WINE TASTING: Bin 41 is “showcasing some neat Austrian wines including a couple cult Gruner Veltliners perfect for pairing with fresh asparagus and Copper River salmon. 6-7:30 pm.” 4707 California SW in The Junction.
MUSICA SACRA AUCTION AND WINE TASTING: 7 pm tonight, The Sanctuary at Admiral, your chance to support the chorale (find out more about Musica Sacra here).
PRIVATIZED LIQUOR, DAY 1: Voted in last fall, in effect as of early today. More on this later today, but it’s now on sale, basically, at all but 1 West Seattle supermarket, all drugstores, the two former state stores, and Target.
3:45 AM: Continuing the overnight watch – police are checking out a report of a possible gunshot heard somewhere in the High Point/Gatewood area. So far, no report of anyone actually being shot, but after the dispatcher put out the word of calls that had come in, one officer said he had heard it while “near the cemetery” (east of High Point) and thought it sounded like a shot and glass breaking. We’ll update if anything conclusive is found.
4:06 AM: Nothing so far – and with apparently no one reporting damage or injury thus far, police have hit something of a dead end.
11:40 PM: Just got a note from Mike about a police search in northeast Admiral – and via the scanner, we’re hearing police asking for the Guardian One helicopter to come help them look. Not sure yet what this is about – nothing involving injury has happened, per the 911 log – but will update, and wanted to forewarn you about the chopper.
11:47 PM UPDATE: Per both scanner and text, the search is currently in the Fairmount Ravine area. There’s a K-9 team, too.
11:58 PM UPDATE: Chopper’s clearing out, per scanner.
12:10 AM UPDATE: We still don’t have official word back from SPD about how this all started but some scanner traffic regarding a stolen car (whose owner is being called for retrieal) may be matching up with what a commenter is seeing in the 39th/Olga area.
FRIDAY 2:16 PM: Finally, the answer: YES, it was the stolen-car search, according to Det. Mark Jamieson with SPD’s media-relations unit. He says this all started when an officer saw someone running out of the white Subaru on SW Olga – she thought that looked suspicious, so she ran the car’s plate and discovered it had been stolen (from the North End a few days ago). She called for “containment” – officers basically swarming the area to try to catch the suspect – and they also called for the Guardian One helicopter, which isn’t always up, but was last night. No luck finding the suspect, but an officer stayed with the vehicle till its owner showed up to claim it – Det. Jamieson points out that when you report a stolen car, you can tell police either that you want to be called to come get it if/when it’s found, or that you are OK with them having it impounded.
They help thousands of local families … but they can’t do it without help from you … and tonight, WestSide Baby has a new call for volunteers “ages 8-108”:
Come Volunteer at WestSide Baby – Our Community’s Children Need You More Than Ever!
WestSide Baby is increasing our Volunteer hours and we need your help! The need is growing and our ability to respond to that is also growing. We are offering more volunteer opportunities than ever before and we hope you will consider helping out, either regularly or by dropping in when it’s convenient for you.
(WSB photo from Tuesday)
More information from SDOT tonight on the timeline for street-parking changes along SW Alaska in The Junction and The Triangle, plus a section of 35th SW. Two days ago, we reported on the “no parking after June 4th” signs (above) that had appeared; tonight, SDOT says street parking WILL be removed along SW Alaska between California and 42nd starting Monday, but that other restrictions will not kick in until the “rechannelization” work does – though you will see some signs-in-waiting. Ahead, full text of the latest update:Read More
Rocksport, the Junction sports bar/grill that’s on the site of the 
future two-building Equity Residential development along SW Alaska between 42nd and California, has set a closing date: July 15th. We contacted its owners after a tip from WSB reader Jim, and got a call back this afternoon from co-owner Shannon Beeman. She says they received word that all leases would be terminated on July 31st – though they had thought they had till fall to clear out. So after some discussion, she told WSB, including talking with their employees, they have decided to close after July 15th, the last day of West Seattle Summer Fest and traditionally their busiest weekend of the year. She says that sometime between July 16th and 31st, they plan to auction off not only the restaurant supplies and kitchen equipment, but also a lot of memorabilia. The Rocksport – as you’ll note atop their home page – has been in business 16 years. We have a message out to Equity Residential to ask whether this means the construction timetable is moving up; in January, they would say only that they expected to start before year’s end.
FRIDAY NIGHT POSTSCRIPT: Here’s a touching tribute to the Rocksport, written by Jennifer Balogh, wife of DJ Tony B of karaoke fame.
(Click “play” above to see the archived video of the briefing)
2:29 PM: Coming up shortly – announced for 2:30 pm but might not start on time – police leadership and the mayor are scheduled to present another briefing with new information about yesterday’s multiple murders in North Seattle and on First Hill, followed by the suspect’s suicide in West Seattle (our afternoon/evening Wednesday coverage is here). Seattle Channel says it’ll broadcast the briefing live, so we’re putting up the video window now – when the briefing begins, you should be able to see it by clicking the “play” button. Our partners at the Seattle Times have learned more about the people who were murdered – you can find the latest links on their home page. Toplines from today’s briefing, as they come.
2:40 PM UPDATE: The briefing has yet to begin, but the City Attorney’s Office has sent the media a packet of background on suspect Ian Stawicki‘s history – both with guns, and with crime. Regarding the former, he had a concealed-weapons permit from Kittitas County, and was listed as owning six guns. For the latter, he was cited for a gun violation, and had a domestic violence arrest, in which the victim did not want to press charges. (For those still wondering why he ended up here, for what it’s worth, there is nothing in the documentation that indicates any ties to West Seattle.)
2:46 PM UPDATE: The briefing has begun. Deputy Chief Nick Metz, who briefed reporters at the West Seattle scene that ended a violent and tragic day, says he has viewed the video recording of the shootings that killed four at Cafe Racer in the north end, and he has “never seen anything more horrific.” He says over the course of the day it became “a citywide crisis” and he is giving praise to the police and fire personnel who were so busy with everything that happened over the span of 5 hours – including the dispatchers, the “unsung heroes,” he calls them. “Those dispatchers are the lifeline to the community and to our officers.” Next, he says, Assistant Chief Jim Pugel will explain where the investigation stands.
2:52 PM: A/Chief Pugel says the investigation is open and will likely remain so for several weeks, even though SPD is “confident” that Stawicki is the “only” suspect in the two shootings that killed five people. He is now going back over the timeline, starting with the first 911 call at 11:01 am. He too mentions watching the video, and saying, “in 30 years of doing this, I’ve never seen anything like that.” And he says “there is a hero” – who was sitting next to the suspect “when the suspect started shooting … and picked up a stool and threw it at the suspect … picked up another stool and hit the suspect … During that time two, possibly three people, made their escape .. so he saved three lives.” The first call about the second shooting came in at 11:32 am, says the assistant chief. He says they’re not sure what route the suspect traveled to get to West Seattle. He says a “lady warned him” that he was parked in a “tow zone. … He contacted an old acquaintance in SW Seattle and roamed in very crowded areas for some time. This former acquaintance did not know what had happened, said he was acting erratically, talking nonsense, and this acquaintance broke off the contact. Once that acquaintance heard the information on the suspect, they immediately contacted us.” Once a photo was distributed, an intel officer saw him, “could not make a safe stop,” so backups were called in … and as they approached him, “that’s when he … killed himself,” says the assistant chief, now taking questions.
3:01 PM: The two guns found were both .45 caliber semi-automatic handguns, says Pugel, during Q/A. He is asked more about the heroism he mentioned, and what was on the video of the shooting. Stawicki, he said, put a victim’s hat on his head, after “complet(ing) the shooting,” and walked out. The hero also provided “critical information,” he said. It will be up to the hero to decide whether to speak to the media or identify himself publicly, he also has said. Stawicki was “calm” during the shootings, he added. The woman who owned the Mercedes SUV he drove here was apparently getting a parking receipt when she encountered Stawicki, he says. They are not sure yet how he got from the café to that scene in 8th/Seneca – whether by car or by bus or some other way. Why he chose to abandon the car where he did, on Delridge, they don’t yet know. Why were schools allowed to dismiss students with him still on the loose? Pugel says, we had no idea where he was, we always leave it up to the school to be the final arbiter on when they release. He says they made sure top police brass were in contact and had officers at schools that decided to let out. They are not sure whether Stawicki was currently living in Seattle or elsewhere. He did choose specifically to go to West Seattle, the assistant chief said.
3:12 PM: And after the mayor was asked about gun laws and attitudes – he reiterated that there has to be a change in the attitude that it’s OK to walk around armed – the news conference ended. When the Seattle Channel archives the video for playback, we’ll re-add it to this story; everything that was said about the West Seattle angle is included above.
3:42 PM: Two postscripts. One, we have added the above photo – police said that a “bag” was the item that linked the two shootings; no description provided, but WSB’s Christopher Boffoli points out he photographed the one above at the scene. Also, the information provided by police today seems to corroborate a phone call we received yesterday, not long before everything ended with the 37th/Raymond suicide, from a WSB reader who said a friend of hers had called her because she had been contacted by someone she knew, who needed a ride, but was acting strangely; the caller said her friend later heard more about the shootings and wondered if that person was the shooter, so she contacted police. The caller told us her friend had mentioned a name … “Ian.”
4:33 PM: SPD Blotter tells a little more about the Café Racer hero’s story. Meantime, Seattle Public Schools has sent a letter elaborating on their security procedures – read on:Read More
Madison Middle School counselor Lauren Divina asked to share this with the community, regarding a school-system budget-cut effect you might not have heard about. We are publishing her open letter in its entirety, ahead:Read More
(Wednesday photo by Don Brubeck)
Since the Greenpeace Esperanza appeared off Duwamish Head yesterday, we’ve been trying to find out exactly what it’s here for, but in e-mail exchanges with WSB’ers, we speculated that it might be related to the expected-soon departure of two Shell drillships/rigs from Vigor on Harbor Island, off to drill in the Arctic. Here’s new evidence that’s likely what’s up. While Greenpeace has yet to answer our inquiry, the maritime-news service gCaptain reports that it’s just been hit with a restraining order by Shell, ordering Greenpeace to stay away from the company’s rigs. They are the Noble Discoverer, which arrived here in April (WSB coverage here), and the Kulluk, which has been at Vigor since last July. A Shell spokesperson told WSB in April that both rigs would likely leave here “sometime in June.”
4 PM UPDATE: Greenpeace has responded to our inquiry with its news release about the ship’s arrival in Seattle, mentioning that it’s anchored “just outside the federally mandated … exclusion zone” – read on:Read More
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
Two days after the “no parking” signs went up and the construction fence was pushed out to the street – as reported here Tuesday – demolition has begun at the Junction site of the mixed-use development Oregon 42, along the east side of 42nd SW, south of SW Oregon. One of the three houses on the site was already down by the time Christopher Boffoli took his first photos today; two more will be demolished.
The site originally held a fourth home, but it was moved to a new location in a much-chronicled overnight operation two years ago (this development has been in the works for four years). When we talked to Oregon 42’s San Diego-based developers two weeks ago, after the first round of fencing went up, they told us they expected to move right into excavation and construction after demolition, with the building expected to take almost a year and a half to complete.
ADDED 11:40 AM: Christopher’s video from this morning:
The three homes, by the way, were almost a century old – King County records say the northernmost one was built in 1914, the house next door in 1915, and the one south of that, in 1913. Some materials had been salvaged before demolition; we saw a Second Use crew at the site before the fencing first went up in mid-May.
Via the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar – just a few things scheduled:
TODDLER STORY TIME AT LOCAL LIBRARIES: Two sessions today (like other library events – free!) – 11 am at Southwest Branch (35th and Henderson), 11:30 am at High Point Branch (35th and Raymond).
WINE TASTING: Tonight’s the weekly free tasting at West Seattle Cellars (WSB sponsor), 5:30-8 pm (details here).
FAMILY LITERACY NIGHT AT SANISLO: Celebrate students’ work and summer reading! 6-7:30 pm (details in the calendar listing).
FUTURE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION: Sanislo teacher Marquita Prinzing is among the panelists for a discussion tonight that’s not happening in West Seattle, but also involves local organizers: “Moving Forward in Public Education: Ideas That Work,” presented by Parents Across America, 6:30 pm at Rainier Beach High School‘s auditorium (map and address in the listing).
WEST SEATTLE’S ONLY BURLESQUE: The monthly show is tonight at Skylark Café and Club (3803 Delridge Way SW), 9 pm. $7 advance (check here online), $9 door, 21+.
After a jarring day – here’s a heartening story we had intended to publish much earlier, till breaking news swept that plan away. A Holy Rosary School 7th grader named Kyle Joyce is reaching out to help, once again. We heard from him about a different charity effort last fall – and now he, friends, and schoolmates are joining forces to help a former baseball coach that Kyle says has been recalled to active-duty military service. They are having a garage sale on Saturday to raise money, and they are also collecting items. Read on:Read More
(TOPLINE SUMMARY: Police say the shootings that killed 4 on Roosevelt in North Seattle and 1 at 8th/Seneca are linked; they happened in the 11 am hour. Around noon, a black Mercedes SUV linked to the latter was found in 4100 block of Delridge. Searches ensued. Then the suspect turned up in 37th/Raymond area; as police moved in, they say, he shot himself.)
12:05 PM: According to the scanner, a vehicle potentially linked to a shooting downtown less than an hour ago has been found on Delridge Way SW, not far from the bridge.
12:09 PM UPDATE: A containment area is being set up in a wide area around the reported vehicle discovery in the 4100 block – traffic is being blocked across a wide area. Scanner traffic says the vehicle was unoccupied but a major search is under way. This apparently was the shooting that happened at 8th and Seneca within the past hour – the second shooting in the city today. More to come.
12:13 PM UPDATE: There is a news chopper from Channel 7 over the SUV in question and KIRO reports that at least one gun has been spotted inside, from their aerial vantage point. We are monitoring KIRO radio and they say the shooting at 8th and Seneca has turned fatal – a woman was shot after some kind of “disturbance.” They say police do not believe at this point that the First Hill shooting was related to another deadly shooting in the city earlier this morning, 2 people killed in the U District.
12:16 PM UPDATE: We have just reached the south end of Youngstown and traffic is being detoured uphill. Huge amount of flashing lights visible along blocked-off Delridge in front of Youngstown. Chopper audible overhead. We’ve parked relatively nearby and WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand has gone down the hill to see/find out what he can.
12:25 PM UPDATE: Police have yellow tape up roughly from the middle of Youngstown Arts Center, telling people to stay out of the area. Southwest Precinct operations Lt. Pierre Davis is on scene. They’re staging media. Also, we are trying to verify possible school lockdowns/sheltering in place – our son at Chief Sealth International High School, at least 2 miles from the vehicle discovery, says they are sheltering in place.
12:40 PM UPDATE: Seattle Times says a home is being searched in Delridge/Genesee area. Seattle Public Schools says “Sealth, Denny, Lafayette and Pathfinder@Cooper are in shelter in place” mode. Also, a parent has forwarded us an e-mail saying Holy Rosary is in lockdown. Thanks for sharing any information you have on school status – we are harvesting and monitoring as best we can.
12:53 PM UPDATE: If you have trouble getting the site, our apologies, traffic flood, we are working with our server to try to open more gateways. We also are updating key info on Twitter and Facebook – twitter.com/westseattleblog and facebook.com/westseattleblog. Police now have SWAT units in the area but there is no word of an arrest yet.
1:02 PM UPDATE: Police continue to search homes in North Delridge. Meantime, we are told that in addition to the four schools SPS listed, Sanislo also is sheltering in place. The suspect in this incident is described by citywide media as white male, 35-years-old, blonde crew cut. If any sort of photo or better description is made available – Seattle Police have not put anything out on their social media or blog-format site – we will of course post it. Right now, it’s all focused on searching.
(All photos from this one forward are by Christopher Boffoli for WSB unless otherwise credited)
1:15 PM UPDATE: Additional school lockdowns – Seattle Lutheran, Hope Lutheran, per Hope’s principal. Tilden, per a commenter. OLG and Westside, no, per the information we have – they are outside the zone of concern. Again, NO ONE IN WEST SEATTLE HAS BEEN HURT OR THREATENED AT THIS POINT – important to say that – police found the vehicle linked to 8th/Seneca shooting but have not found the suspect. Also note that North Delridge buses are being rerouted – the 120 and we believe 125, up Andover at last report. (updated) Westside School says via FB that they ARE taking safety precautions just in case. We also have a report via Twitter that Gatewood may be sheltering in place too, trying to verify that with SPS central.
1:29 PM UPDATE: Community School of WS also reported to be in shelter in place. Meantime, there was a brief flurry of activity at the search scene, a possible suspicious person at Youngstown – who turned out to be a worker, according to our crew there, so all the media has now retreated from that. It’s been about two hours now since the shooting to which the SUV found here is believed to be linked, at 8th/Seneca, leaving a woman dead – here’s the latest from our partners at the Seattle Times. Police now say it appears the victim was arguing with a man before the shooting – early reports of a carjacking don’t seem to have borne out, but keep in mind, witness reports etc. can change. What has complicated all this is that it was the second deadly shooting of the morning in the city – a half-hour earlier, a man shot five people – two of whom have died – at a café in the U District. Police have not said if there’s possibly any link between the two incidents.
(North Delridge, SW Yancy vicinity, 1:30 pm)
1:43 PM UPDATE: From Seattle Public Schools regarding the end of the school day, spokesperson Teresa Wippel says, “We are planning on regular release times and don’t anticipate delays in transportation home. The city has blocked certain streets and our buses will follow the safe, alternate routes as needed.” SW Precinct Lt. Davis has just talked with media crews including ours and we are asking a followup about the closed roads and access to areas including Pigeon Point. Stand by for whatever we find out.
1:52 PM UPDATE: Northbound Delridge has JUST been reopened at the scene in 4100-4400 Delridge. Re: Pigeon Point, we are told by police that Andover is open. ALSO – per scanner – schools in this area will be notified that lockdowns are not currently requested (though keep in mind, schools are always free to take whatever precautions they feel is best for their students’ safety – this is just a matter of whether they want to know if police think they SHOULD be sheltering in place/locked down).
(Photo by Patrick Sand for WSB)
2:01 PM UPDATE: Scene is starting to clear. Tow truck has arrived to impound the vehicle (photo added). Getting more word of schools lifting shelter-in-place. Police do confirm finding a weapon in the SUV.
2:30 PM UPDATE: Southbound Delridge also is now open. Meantime, police have checked out a couple reports of suspicious men matching the suspect description – one was at the golf course; our crews went there but it did not appear to be the guy. Now there’s a location that’s being checked out which for now we will describe as uphill to the west a ways from where the vehicle was found.
2:43 PM UPDATE: No confirmed breaks in the case yet. Mayor, police chief leadership have announced 3:30 pm briefing on today’s shootings. If it’s carried by Seattle Channel, we will embed the live video on WSB too; waiting to hear. The U-District shooting has claimed a third life, it was just announced. That’s four people dead in today’s two shootings – U District 11 am, 8th/Seneca at 11:30 am.
2:50 PM UPDATE: After yet another possible sighting of someone suspicious, police are now searching in the Luna Park/Bridge area, which we would advise avoiding for a while.
3:20 PM UPDATE: That search appears to be winding down. Police are now headed to Westwood to check out a possible guy standing along SW Barton with a holstered gun. We expect to be able to embed the video of the upcoming 3:30 pm mayor/police briefing here, by the way, in case you’re interested in watching it.
3:30 PM: Here it is – just click the “play” button to tap into the live webcast. We’ll add a few text highlights as we hear them:
>(Late night note: This is now the archived video of this afternoon’s briefing)
3:44 PM: Briefing under way. The mayor spoke briefly, saying police need “the tools they need to do their job” and also expressing concern about it being “too easy” to get guns. Councilmember Bruce Harrell, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, suggests “gun dropoffs.”
3:50 PM: Assistant Chief Jim Pugel says there are three scenes and many detectives are out at them: “We are doing everything possible” to solve today’s deadly shootings and “identify the persons who are responsible for these crimes.”
3:52 PM: We are not sure if it’s related but a shooting is reported now at 37th and Raymond. We’re en route. WSB’s Megan Sheppard is at the scene. She says the medics are arriving.
3:57 PM: KING describes the person who’s been shot as “possible suspect in downtown shooting” and says the person is “in custody.” Police describe this as an officer-involved shooting, via Twitter.
4:03 PM: SPD assistant chief at televised briefing says this was believed to be the NORTH END suspect and now they say the gunshot was believed to be SELF-INFLICTED.
4:09 PM: Assistant Chief Pugel came back with more information. Police with photos of North End suspect had spotted what they believed to be him – and as police move in, he says, the man knelt in the street, pulled out gun, shot himself. He still is saying they’re acting on the assumption there were two different suspects – this one and the one from the 8th/Seneca shooting. WSB’s Megan Sheppard is also at the shooting scene and says one key difference in the descriptions is a beard – would seem difficult for someone to change facial hair with two shootings half an hour and some distance apart. Here’s the roadblock near this shooting scene:
4:27 PM: The photos that police had procured of the North End shooting suspect – whom they believe to be the man who shot himself here – are on the SPD website but that’s jammed up right now so you can also check out KING5.com. Per KIRO, suspect is en route to hospital and was alive at last report – we didn’t hear medic transmissions via scanner but they have the advantage of a chopper.
(This photo, next photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
4:37 PM: Police have tweeted that detectives are investigating a possible connection between today’s two shootings. More info is promised shortly. A briefing at the scene was expected at any minute. We’ll add whatever our crew hears there, and we’ll have the entire briefing on video once they’re back from the scene.
4:45 PM: Suspect is now reported dead, and citywide media is quoting authorities as saying it’s believed he was linked to both shootings. Seattle Police also has said that in briefing just concluded at scene. And via Twitter, they say “evidence” links the two incidents. The earlier SPD Blotter post with photos is now accessible here.
4:58 PM: Police now call the man the “lone suspect in 4 murders.” No identifying information public so far as we’ve seen, but we are starting to hear more about the victims – here’s the Times story about a man who survived the North End shooting.
5:15 PM: The Times also has published a map showing where this all unfolded. You can see it here. Here’s our unedited video of Deputy Chief Nick Metz’s briefing at the 37th/Raymond shooting scene last hour:
5:44 PM: Police now say, via Twitter, the suspect is still alive at Harborview Medical Center.
5:54 PM: He’s just been identified, according to KIRO. Looking for a spelling so we may have to correct this, but they identified him as Ian Stawicki. The Times also has that name, quoting police sources, and is continuing to add information about his background.
8:21 PM: Catching up after a break. Adding more photos from earlier to this coverage. A few updates: Police now say the SUV that the murder suspect apparently ditched on Delridge was indeed stolen from the woman who was shot and killed. West Seattle Summer Fest event producer Oliver Little says in comments that two of the North End victims were members of the band The Bad Things, which played the festival last year; we found that verified on the band’s Facebook page. Otherwise, we haven’t yet learned anything about why Stawicki chose to head this way.
8:58 PM: And another update: KING 5 quotes a Harborview Medical Center spokesperson as saying that Stawicki has died as well as a fourth victim from the North End café shooting. That means 6 people dead, including the suspected killer.
10:19 PM: Earlier this evening, our friends at Capitol Hill Seattle reported that the First Hill victim was identified in an e-mail sent to families at her daughters’ school – a 52-year-old mom.
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