Today at about 3:50pm, two men were arguing in the parking lot just to the south of the Bank of America branch at 23rd & Jackson (just west of the Red Apple market). The fight escalated, and one of the men pulled out a gun and shot the other in the neck. The victim, an 18 year old black male, called 911 and made his way into the bank branch for help.
But the perpetrator picked the wrong day for a crime at that location, as there was a large police contingent in the area due to one of the May Day marches that was getting started a few blocks away. An officer heard the radio report of the 911 call and immediately identified a suspect running north through the parking lot. As the suspect passed Starbucks, he tossed a gun into bushes at the rear of the store. Police caught up to the suspect in the 2300 block of Main and held him at gunpoint until additional officers arrived.
The victim was treated by medics at the scene for about 45 minutes before being taken to Harborview. His status is not known at this time.
Update: 10:00pm – Seattle police are now confirming that they have arrested the only suspect in the case. He is juvenile and has been booked into the King County youth detention center at 14th & Alder for felony assault. The victim, who they’re now saying was shot in the neck and/or the face, is in critical condition at Harborview.
Realtime Report:
3:50pm – We’re hearing that someone has been shot near the Bank of America at 23rd & Jackson. Police have a suspect on the ground under gunpoint at 23rd & Main. They’ve also recovered located a black revolver near Starbucks.
Victim shot in the forehead neck.
Evidently he was shot outside near the parking lot and ran into the bank for help.
A witness saw 3 black males running north through the promenade parking lot.
gatortv is on the scene, says that there was a bike on the ground near where the suspect was apprehended. That may have been his escape vehicle.
Victim says he was shot by a black male in a black & white cap
Witnesses are being brought over to ID the suspect.
Evidently medics are keeping the victim at the scene for now. Calls are going out to bring blood.
Original call came in to 911 from the victim, saying he had been shot. Police happened to be in the area, allowing them to get the suspect as he was fleeing.
4:27pm – Just got video from the scene- uploading soon
5:00pm – The victim is a black male, 18 years old and is shot in the neck (not the forehead)
5:06pm – Just finished the press conference. The victim and suspect were arguing in the parking lot outside the bank, when it escalated and the suspect drew a gun and shot the victim in the neck. The victim called 911 and went into the bank for help.
5:28pm – Apologies for the quality of the video. The crowd at the scene was pretty hostile. Video of the press conference is encoding now and should be available at about 6:15pm
More info as we get it…
the hits keep coming
shot in forehead=death in most cases.
edit: sorry, shouldn’t be so insensitive. thoughts are with the victim
It was such a nice sunny day too :-
What exactly does he know?
Why did I move here again? I’m /trying/ not to become prejudiced towards all the teens in the neighboorhod, but now every time I see one loitering in a parking lot I wonder if he has drugs or a gun.
Dumb kid – just threw his entire life away because he thought he’d be a Tough Guy.
It’s been this way long before you moved here. It’s not something that just started with gentrification. The crime in the Central has never been a secret. No one ever cared until they moved here. Now, it’s like “OMG! Look at what’s happening in this Average American, metropolitan, urban, Inner-city community” gee whiz, wake-up people. High unemployment, drugs, guns, no role models, mentors, leadership, community outreach, organized community-based sports, none, nada. So get comfortable with your “real estate (home)” deal, being close to downtown, and all of the “other wonderful “amenities that come with the living in the “hood”.
I’m not surprised by the crime in this neighborhood, and I didn’t move here thinking it would be otherwise. That doesn’t mean it’s any less infuriating. And it’s not “average” unless you have pathetically low standards.
I agree that kids in this neighborhood have no role models or mentors (and apparently no parents). Unemployment is a joke; Seattle is rich with jobs and opportunities for any who want them.
I don’t understand why all the folks whining about gentrification think the new residents are clueless wide-eyed yuppies. “Like, oh my god! Crime! Clarence, let’s move back to Kirkland!” I don’t think so. Kids shooting each other in parking lots sucks no matter how you slice it and no matter who you are; you aren’t more street-wise or superior just because you were here “first.”
And I’m quite bored with this notion that newcomers are getting some smoking real-estate deal. A woman on the street asked to use my cellphone; I said no and she started screaming at me, “Hope you enjoy your fucking equity motherfucker!” Nice.
I didn’t come here for amenities (ha!) or being close-in; I can scarcely afford to live here, but it’s the last option in King County for most folks.
Cooper,
You missed the point of my reply to your post.
“not to become prejudiced towards all the teens”
Cooper
“thought he’d be a Tough Guy” Cooper
Be a part of the solution.
“Prejudices are what fools use for reason.”
Voltaire
“This City is what it is because our citizens are what they are.” Plato
look at the kids in the video acting like video taping is out of pocket but it’s perfectly acceptable to shoot each other over an argument.
Theres plenty of jobs its just that kids have no desire to actually hold a job and they just want meander around the streets 24 hrs a day.
Violent open crime is not normal to this neighborhood. I moved here in 1977. The area was a bit depressed and had a higher than average rate of burglary. Remember all of Seattle was still recovering from an earlier depression due to a huge Boeing lay-off in the late 60s and early 70s. The types of violence involving gun shots and drive-by shootings begin to occur only in the very late 1980s and early ’90s. By the mid nineties that type of crime was no longer present. That along with the economic boom of the dot coms housing in all of city bcame desireable and prices increased (Some would add Californians to the list.) Many seemed to discover this eceletic neighborhood. Crime was as much a factor in driving out residents as price. Some retirees decided to sell as prices again were good. Some had hoped to do this earlier but during the crime wave were not able to do so. Even we once considered selling, but my husband I decided that we basically liked the neighborhood and our house and decided to invest resources in fixing up the home we had.
I don’t have statistics for the past 50 years but again to in any way suggest that any people rich or poor, young or old, should not expect to live in safe clean neighborhood is wrong, just wrong. There is no excuse to allow any neighborhood to be dangerous. Safe neighborhoods are important to the mental and physical health of all.
As for the effect on teens and children. Safe homes and neighborhhods do much toward insuring their success in school and in life. Fear and anger intefer with the brain’s ability to learn.
Joanna
Welcome to Seattle, a podunk town that thinks it is a big city, a place full of moronic white-trash bums, retarded black gangsters, and the white-liberal-guilt ninnies who coddle and make excuses for them. Everywhere you look in this city you can be sure to see some homeless pants-crapping drug addict or preposterous tough-guy buhruhtha dressed in a ghetto-clown outfit. 1 in every 3 people I see at 3rd & Pine I can smell from 10 feet away. The most hilarious thing is that “white progressive liberals” have to live in the cities they create!!!