West Seattle, Washington
30 Thursday
(WSB photos by Christopher Boffoli)
11:25 PM: We’ve found out a bit about the sizable police presence, including SWAT officers, at an apartment building in Admiral, near California/College. (Thank you to those who texted/e-mailed about it.) Police on the scene tell WSB’s Christopher Boffoli that a man is barricaded inside an apartment. More as we get it.
11:55 PM: No change in the situation. We’re told police have been on the scene for more than two hours. Police confirmed to Christopher that this began with a domestic-violence incident earlier in the evening. The Seattle Fire 911 log shows an aid (lower-level medical) response to the area at 9:12 pm. Aside from the police presence outside the building on SW College, Christopher tells us there are no traffic effects.
12:51 AM: Now an assault-with-weapons response has been dispatched, and scanner traffic indicates a possible shooting victim.
Christopher reports hearing what could have been gunshots.
12:58 AM: Per radio, police and fire are going in.
1:09 AM: Christopher reports that the SWAT team is leaving and medics (above) have left without a patient.
1:58 AM: Still trying to find out how this ended. SW Precinct Lt. Alan Williams told us he can only say “there is no threat to anyone in the area at this time.” More information, we’re told, will come through SPD Public Affairs.
3:42 AM: Adding photos taken while the situation was still unfolding. Above, SWAT officers staged on the other side of California, though the incident did NOT involve businesses there. Below, at the building, the SWAT officers entered and exited over the course of a few hours; residents were not evacuated.
7:27 AM: Though we’re still awaiting an official police statement, sources including neighbors confirm the man was found dead. One neighbor says some residents were in fact evacuated for a time.
8:14 AM: SPD Det. Patrick Michaud confirms that police found the man dead of “a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” The victim in the original domestic-violence report was already out of the apartment when police first arrived around 8:30 pm, Det. Michaud confirms, and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
9:35 AM: One more detail from police, according to Det. Drew Fowler: “Police never made contact with the man until we made entry and located the deceased.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: As we always do in reports involving suicide, we want to mention the Crisis Clinic‘s 24-hour hotline: 206-461-3222. The state’s Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-562-6025.
9:56 PM: Guardian One is in the area for the third time tonight. This time we’ve heard it’s a call near 20th/Delridge but don’t have details yet. Earlier, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office Air Support Twitter timeline, the helicopter assisted with calls described as a hit-run search in West Seattle and a robbery search in White Center.
10:44 PM: We couldn’t find any police activity in that area but Guardian One’s subsequent tweet says it was helping with “a robbery north of White Center.” Fragments of scanner traffic lead us to believe it was a store robbery, not a street robbery, but we’re still trying to confirm with police. No helicopter visible in the area (or anywhere else as we drove back north along 16th, and then onto Delridge, from there).
ADDED EARLY SATURDAY: Delridge 7-11, per comment.
(From left, Pete Spalding of the SW Precinct Advisory Council; Chief Kathleen O’Toole; Capt. Steve Wilske; Deb Greer of the WS Block Watch Captains’ Network)
7:44 PM: Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole‘s first “community conversation” in West Seattle was cut short after a woman concerned about police-brutality shouted down the chief and others before the meeting was an hour old.
Those who had come to hear Chief O’Toole talk about West Seattle community crime issues tried in turn to get the protester to stop so they could ask their questions, but after a few minutes of semi-chaos, host Pete Spalding announced the meeting was over. Some community members moved ahead to the front of the room to try to get the chief to answer their questions in a one-on-one type of situation, which continued for at least 15 minutes after the meeting’s official end, and is continuing even as we publish the first version of this.
We’ll add video of the truncated meeting a bit later. (9:54 PM: Here’s the link; 10:12 PM, it’s embedded below – note that our camera was fixed/pointed to the front of the room, so the shouting is off-camera:)
Below, our notes as it unfolded.
We’ve included reminders in almost every West Seattle Crime Watch report since the original announcement two weeks ago, but in case you’ve missed them – Tomorrow’s the night that Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole comes to West Seattle for her first community conversation. It’s co-sponsored by the Southwest Precinct Advisory Committee, and the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network, which published this reminder earlier today. 6:30 pm Tuesday in the precinct meeting room (off its public parking lot along Webster, just west of Delridge). No presentation – just your questions and her answers, promise organizers.
The most recent reader reports – if you have information on these or any other cases, call 911:
STOLEN CAR: Federico‘s black Dodge Caliber, ANK8969, was taken overnight near California/Brandon.
(added) POSSIBLY STOLEN CAR, FOUND: Nicole reported it to police, but wanted to make note of it here too – a white 4-door Nissan Sentra, plate 035ZWO, at 35th/Henderson for more than 3 days, “contents are ransacked, bag of mail on the floor, body damage to passenger side, spare tire on front passenger side.”
(back to original roundup) STOLEN BICYCLE: Colton reports this was stolen near California/Hinds:
And a PS: “Only thing that’s different on the bike is that it now has a black seat post.”
STOLEN FLAG: On the eve of the big game, no less! Steve reports, “Sometime last night someone came up to our brightly lit driveway and stole my Seahawks flag that has been flying all season. The pole was in the neighbor’s yard…but no flag.”
CAR PROWLS: Emily reports, “Last night on the 1600 block of SW Massachusetts/Bonair/Sunset Avenue, two unlocked cars were gone through. Gloves and a flashlight were stolen, and an ignition was broken.” … Not far away, Melani reports, a trailer hitched to a truck was broken into … on the corner of Massachusetts and 44th.” Taken: Work tools, some heavy-duty, including a chop saw. … Earlier this week near 18th/Elmgrove, Alison reports, car prowlers took “two big boxes of diapers, about 250.”
(added) ANOTHER CAR PROWL: Just after we published this roundup, we got this from Russell, so we’re adding:
I just reported a theft from my truck parked on 41st Avenue SW near SW Monroe Street. The theft occurred between 10 pm last night (Jan. 30) and 8am this morning (Jan. 31). Most of my tools were left in place, however, a very expensive metering device was taken. It was in a black Pelican hard case. The meter is a GEM 2000 Gas Analyzer manufactured by Landtec North America. Serial number: 11456. Also taken was an aluminum clipboard with field notes in it, which I retrieved from a guy on 26th Avenue SW who called me to say it was in his front yard (my business card was inside), between the West Seattle Golf Course and Delridge Playfield. I filed the report with Officer N. Meyst, Incident #15-35175.
ADVICE FOR PREVENTING/DETERRING CAR PROWLS: From SPD’s Southwest/South Precincts Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon (who also discussed some of this at last week’s West Seattle Block Watch Captains’ Network meeting):
POLICE CHIEF HERE TUESDAY: Another reminder – 6:30 pm Tuesday at the SW Precinct (Webster/Delridge), you’re invited to Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole‘s first local “community conversation.”
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Lessons on staying safe and updates on crime/safety concerns were offered at the first West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meeting of the year on Tuesday night.
More than two dozen people were at the meeting, not counting WSBWCN leaders Deb Greer and Karen Berge and four Seattle Police reps including precinct commander Capt. Steve Wilske, Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon, and Community Police Team Officers Jon Flores and Erin Nicholson.
Seattle Police announced today that the department has redrawn patrol-sector boundaries, among other changes – here’s the official announcement. From it, above, that’s the new map of sectors/beats in the Southwest Precinct (West Seattle and South Park); compare it to the old one below:
From the SPD Blotter post that contains the announcement, as linked above:
SPD’s five precincts’ beats will also more closely reflect Seattle’s census tracts, to match officer allocation to the recent growth and shifts in Seattle’s many neighborhoods. Beat realignments are a common practice for law enforcement agencies throughout the country, allowing police departments to account for city growth and population density changes. The last time SPD redrew its boundaries was in 2008. Now, six years later, the department has again taken the opportunity to reevaluate and meet the needs of each of Seattle’s neighborhoods.
We don’t have detailed information on the boundary changes, but on first look, the ones we notice seem to involve the William sector in western WS. Meantime, aside from the maps, we don’t have specifics yet about exactly what that means to you, but we’re asking for more details and will add anything we find out.
P.S. If you didn’t read the full announcement, SPD also is taking Tweets by Beat and crime maps down until next week, to align the automated information with these changes. That means the incident list you see atop our Crime Watch page will be unavailable. It also means your tips are more important now than ever, since the tweets and maps are a key way we try to make sure we haven’t missed anything major – editor@westseattleblog.com or 206-293-6302 any time – thank you.
7:52 PM: Thanks to the Chief Sealth International High School parents who have sent us this message received tonight by families – first we have heard of it:
Yesterday, while walking home from school, a student was approached by a man in a newer model, gray minivan. A man drove up to the student, pulled off to the side, opened his door and exposed himself to her. This student ran away and reported this incident when she got home and then reported to the school today. Police were notified, took a report and description, and are now investigating. We do not have a license plate, but the description was a white male in his mid 30s, brown hair, wearing a white t-shirt and worn-out jeans, and driving a newer model gray mini-van. Our student did everything right, immediately getting away from the stranger, meeting up with a nearby familiar individual and reporting the incident to her parent, to the school, and then to the police.
The safety of our students is our top priority for Chief Sealth International. You can help your children stay safe by talking to them about personal safety. Tips to discuss are walking in pairs or groups and being aware of their surroundings at all times, as well as not talking to strangers or getting into their vehicles. Having these conversations, especially with younger children, can be difficult. We encourage you to be sensitive to your child. More tips and information can be found on the Seattle Police Department website.
While it hasn’t been mentioned here so far, we received this while covering the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meeting and are pursuing more information from police; we’ll add anything more we find out.
8:14 PM: One additional detail that was not in the school e-mail – the police report says the student wasn’t certain exactly where it happened, but it was “near” Delridge/Thistle, which is a few blocks east of the school. This is the first incident of this type that has surfaced in our area since last September.
em>By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
This edition of our periodic feature The WSBeat contains summaries written from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers – generally cases that (usually) have not already appeared here in breaking-news coverage or West Seattle Crime Watch reports, but that might at least answer the question “what WERE all those police doing on my block?” Or on the bridge, or the beach, or …
*Early on the morning of the 17th, a man heard a bang outside his home in the 2700 block of 46th SW. He contacted three males who were standing around his car. (The car door was open.) The three walked away and the victim followed them to a grocery on California Avenue. Officers found the three hiding in the rooftop parking lot. One, a 15-year-old who lives in another part of Seattle, was booked into the Youth Service Center for investigation of vehicle prowling. A second, a 12-year old who does live in West Seattle, was a missing person, and already had two juvenile warrants; one for burglary and one for theft. He was booked for these warrants and for investigation of vehicle prowling. The third, a 14-year-old from downtown, was also a missing person with two juvenile warrants – one for burglary, one for possession of a stolen vehicle. He was booked for the warrants and for investigation of vehicle prowling.
*On the morning of the 20th, a 14-year-old Kent resident with a history of disruptive and intimidating behavior was arrested and booked into the Youth Service Center after striking and threatening to “cut” an Admiral-area store employee who had told him to leave the premises.
Five more summaries ahead:Read More
While we’re covering the street-robberies investigation separately (newest update here), we have reader reports on several other crimes you should know about:
OFFICE BREAK-IN: Between 7 pm last night and 10 am today, a health-care office in the 5400 block of California SW was broken into. Laptops and a filing cabinet were taken; the latter had some checks and cash, as well as client files.
CAR THEFT: Kristine in North Delridge hopes you’ll help look for her 1998 dark green Honda Civic LX (license plate AMR5059): “It was parked on the street in front of my house (2800 block of SW Nevada St.) and taken sometime between 11 pm and 7:30 am.” Call 911 if you see it.
CAR BREAK-INS: Both happened Wednesday evening. From Charise: “My black Lexus was broken into … in the rear lot behind the West Seattle YMCA on Alaska. My daughter’s backpack is all that was stolen. It’s pretty obvious people are canvassing the area for cars with bags left in them.” Not far away, this reader report: “Between 4:00 and 5:30 pm (Wednesday), someone smashed the rear passenger window of my car while parked in the back parking lot near Oregon Street and 44th Avenue SW. They grabbed (stole) my light green backpack. A brazen theft in daylight hours in a popular area.” Any information, please contact police.
REMINDER – NEXT CRIMEFIGHTING MEETINGS: Two chances to talk with police as well as your West Seattle neighbors – 6:30 pm Tuesday (January 27), the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network; 6:30 pm Tuesday, February 3rd, a community conversation with SPD Chief Kathleen O’Toole. Both at the SW Precinct (Delridge/Webster), both open to all.
SIDE NOTE – CRIME STATS: SPD has gone public with the full 2014 stats. Here’s the overview.
New details about Saturday morning’s Morgan Junction street robbery/carjacking attempt are in the official police report we have just obtained, as well as the reason for the subsequent search in Gatewood. Until now, as weekend WSB readers are aware, most of what we knew came via comments (here and here) plus a bit of information we procured by finding an SPD sergeant at an unrelated scene post-search. So far, no word of any arrests, but we hope to hear more directly from Southwest Precinct police during tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting. Ahead, we’ve transcribed the report’s narrative, since this is a high-interest incident, the third street robbery in three days in West Seattle at the time (no reports of any since Saturday):
(WSB photo from August 2014 – Chief O’Toole with Karen Berge & Deb Greer of the WS Block Watch Captains Network)
Shortly after Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole started her job last summer, she visited last summer’s Delridge Day/Picnic at the Precinct festival. She has not, however, been to a formal community meeting here – but that’s about to change. Just announced:
The Southwest Precinct Advisory Council (SWPAC) and the West Seattle Block Watch Captains are pleased to announce a community conversation with Seattle’s Chief of Police Kathleen O’Toole.
The West Seattle community is invited to come to the Southwest Police Precinct on Tuesday, February 3rd from 6:30 to 8:30 pm to participate in this community conversation.
There will not be a formal program as this is an opportunity for the citizens of West Seattle to come out and meet Seattle’s new police chief.
If you would like more information or have any questions, you can contact Pete Spalding at SWPAC@comcast.net.
The precinct is at 2300 SW Webster, on the NW corner of Webster/Delridge.
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
8:36 PM: No one is said to be hurt, but somebody is reported to have shot at and into a house near Delridge Way/SW Findlay a short time ago, with police confirming bullet holes (as heard over the radio). We haven’t heard a suspect description yet. More as we get it.
8:55 PM UPDATE: Our crew at the scene has confirmed with police that multiple shots hit the house (which is on 23rd) and that no one is hurt. We’ve also just heard a potential vehicle description, blue or black SUV, unknown make/model, was “full” of people but no description of them, last seen southbound on Croft Place.
2:19 PM THURSDAY: We had requested the report on this – it’s since shown up summarized on SPD Blotter:
A teenage boy narrowly escaped injury during a drive-by shooting … Wednesday night.
The 17-year-old victim told police he was standing in front of a convenience store around 8 PM with an acquaintance, near Delridge Way Southwest and Southwest Findlay, when a black or dark blue SUV drove by and its occupants stared at them. When the car made a U-turn, both of them started running.
The victim ran into his nearby home and his acquaintance kept running. After dashing into his house, the victim heard several gunshots. Police found several bullet holes in the teen’s home, which was occupied by five other people including an 11-month old baby and a 12-year-old. Bullet fragments were found inside the home. No one was injured.
Gang Unit detectives are investigating.
5:03 PM: After two tips that West Seattle High School had a short-lived “shelter in place” situation for a while after school today – remember, this was an early-release day – we checked with Seattle PD. They say it started with a report that someone with a knife was threatening people in the park, north of WSHS. Police did make an arrest, according to SPD spokesperson Det. Patrick Michaud. No information yet on the suspect or where the arrest was made.
5:40 PM: Thanks to MD for sharing the note sent home to parents, signed by assistant principal Garth Reeves:
Today, January 14th, after school at approximately 2:20 pm, West Seattle High School was briefly placed in Shelter In Place as a result of reports of a suspect with a knife in the community. All perimeter doors were locked and a sweep of the school was conducted by West Seattle staff and the Seattle Police Department. After school activities continued and the Shelter In Place was lifted at 2:45 after the suspect was apprehended. All scheduled evening activities will take place as planned and our staff and students are to be commended for behaving in a safe and appropriate manner.
(Added: Photo courtesy Patrick C)
1:12 PM: Getting calls and texts about a big police search near 63rd/Admiral in the Alki area. We just called SPD media relations to ask about it and here’s what they told us: An apartment in the 6000 block of SW Stevens was broken into, and a citizen was following a suspect. Police have converged on the area, including a K-9 team. The suspect was last seen running around the area but hasn’t yet been caught, though police are reported to have found some items that might have been among the loot. The only description they have so far is a Hispanic man around 20 years old, unshaven, with a white baseball cap and black ponytail, puffy jacket (though he might have ditched it), and black pants.
(Photo courtesy Sarahjean)
1:14 PM UPDATE: Literally two minutes after we published this, police took a suspect into custody in the 6200 block of SW Admiral Way, according to scanner discussion.
ADDED: One more postscript – a reader report that the SW Stevens burglary was preceded by mail/package thefts on 55th SW, with the suspect caught on camera:
The reader who provided the screen grab from surveillance video says, “He got a fanny pack, burgundy leggings, a Paris tank top, protein powder & women’s multivitamins” – and the items were recovered. The police, meantime, got the video.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON NOTE: We hope to write a separate followup later, but in the meantime, a bail hearing for the suspect, who is 32 years old, was held this afternoon. Bail was set at $20,000. He has a record – and had a warrant out for his arrest. The case has also landed on SPD Blotter.
Two new maps of note from SPD’s latest SeaStat stats/trends briefing, just made public:
That’s the citywide map of auto thefts in the past four weeks. Precinct-by-precinct breakouts weren’t released (we’re trying to take a WS count from the online police-report map), but citywide, the number totals 291 – that’s almost 10 per day – and it’s the one crime category that was at its highest level of the month, citywide, in late December/early January. SPD also released a map of auto theft “hot spots” but no place in West Seattle was on that map.
Another citywide map made public – shots-fired incidents in the past four weeks:
We haven’t matched all of the West Seattle locations to specific incidents – but one would definitely be this New Year’s Eve incident that left two bullet holes in a Morgan Junction business window. No other Southwest Precinct info of note in the slide deck made public by Seattle Police; the SeaStat briefings for department leadership are generally held every other Wednesday – past decks are here.
Thanks to everyone who messaged us about a sizable police response this past hour near 39th and Morgan. Police had a report of what they described as a troubled person with a knife inside a house, and someone was concerned enough to call 911. In the end, police say the situation was defused and the person was taken into custody without anyone having been hurt.
2:50 PM: Police and fire are responding to an “assault with weapons” call in the 9200 block of 2nd SW. Details as we get them.
3:03 PM: False alarm of sorts, according to police on scene and in media relations. Man who fell and hit his head first claimed he’d been shot – but hadn’t. He was injured badly enough to be taken to the hospital, though.
(Added: WSB photo of SSCC parking lot by ravine where the girls were found)
1:56 PM: Police are looking for two girls, ages 4 and 10, in eastern West Seattle, and their family has asked us to get the word out too. The older girl has brown hair, wearing pink sweats and a pink orange jacket; younger girl has blonde hair, wearing a bright orange or blue (reversible) jacket and bright pink pants. They left their house without permission more than an hour ago and might be in the greenbelt behind Sanislo Elementary, their family says. If you see them, please call 911.
3:01 PM: Per scanner – just found, near South Seattle College.
3:26 PM: We have also confirmed with police in the area, that they are OK and safe. Medics were called to check them out just to be sure.
We’ve received several calls about a police response at 35th/Austin (map) – the original call was “assault with weapons”; one witness said there was a report of someone seen in the neighborhood with a gun. At the scene, officers told us it’s being investigated as a case of suicide. SW Austin is blocked off on the west side of 35th SW.
(As always when mentioning suicide, we want to point out a local resource for those considering self-harm or otherwise in crisis: The Crisis Clinic has a 24-hour hotline, 206-461-3222.)
We’ve just obtained the police report for an armed robbery reported early today in the 3200 block of SW Avalon Way. The exact address has been redacted, but the holdup is described as having happened in an apartment-building parking lot visible from apartments above it (which likely means a parking area off the alley). The police report says it happened just after 1 am and that the victims told them they had pulled into the lot and were getting out of their car when the three robbers approached from the north.
SPD is just out with its newest SeaStat slide deck – an every-two-week briefing given to department leadership, highlighting crime trends and hotspots. Above is the precinct-by-precinct breakdown of car prowls over the four-week period from November 16th to December 13th (last Saturday). The car prowl total for the Southwest Precinct – West Seattle and South Park – number fewer than half the next-lowest precinct. See the full deck here. It also includes a look at SW Precinct numbers for all major-crime categories in the past month; the most-common type is “larceny/theft,” totaling 136 of the total 249 “major crimes” in West Seattle/South Park over the four-week period examined.
ADDED 11:30 PM: Eric asked in comments about a map for comparison. The SPD “police reports” map, when sorted for car prowls and for the same four-week period shown above, doesn’t seem to show quite as many incidents, but you can get an idea of the hot spots – Lincoln Park, for example, where the circled “11” indicates 11 car prowls during those four weeks:
(While the screengrab does not show the entirety of the SW Precinct, it did not show any car prowls north or south of the area shown; there were a few to the east, in South Park.)
7:26 PM: Thanks to Chris for the tip – police converged on the 76 station/mini-mart at California/Andover a short time ago because of an armed robbery. We don’t have a description or other details, but the search is on, and we’ll add any other information we’re able to get. No word of any injuries.
8:37 PM UPDATE: Just got a little more information from police. Two people robbed the store; their faces were covered, so the only descriptive information so far is that they were believed to be a male and a female, possibly teens to early 20s. The male robber showed a handgun. Police are pursuing active leads.
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