We try to report every bit of news we can find in the neighborhood – good and bad. I know some of you worry that our crime reporting will give the neighborhood a bad name vs. places with less coverage. So consider this a friendly reminder that there’s plenty of violence to go around, and only a small part of it happens on our streets:
John emailed to say he was listening to his scanner tonight and heard about this in the South precinct:
About 7:39 SFD dispatch to 8630 Rainier Ave S, Assault w weapon/14 per. It appears to be the minimart. Reports on the scene, 2 victims shot, one shot in the forearm, one in the upper thigh. Both male teens. Seems like lots of police headed that way. Traffic closed on Rainier from Cloverdale to Henderson. Suspect description, Black Male, 20-30, 6’0″, slender build.
I went back to our scanner recordings and heard the suspect described as a black male, 20-30, 6′ tall, slender build, in a black coat over a gray hoody, and with a dark hat. He was last seen eastbound on foot on S. Cloverdale.
Update: More from the SPD blog:
On November 23 at approximately 7:37 P.M. officers responded to multiple calls of shots fired near the parking lot of an apartment building in the 8600 block of Rainier Avenue South. Officers arrived on scene and discovered two juvenile male gunshot victims. One victim was shot in the arm and the other victim was shot in the leg. Both victims were treated at the scene by SFD Medics and transported to an area hospital. The suspect fled the scene on foot and is described as a young black male, approximately six feet tall, slim build, and wearing a black coat over a gray hoodie. Homicide and Gang Unit Detectives responded to the scene and are actively investigating.
And via Capitol Hill Seattle, a man was shot dead in a bar last night on First Hill:
On November 23 at approximately 12:06 A.M. officers responded to a call of shots fired inside a nightclub in the 900 block of Madison Street. Officers arrived on scene and found one male victim with a fatal gunshot wound. The victim was apparently shot inside the club. Homicide, Gang, and CSI Detectives all responded to the scene to investigate. The suspect remains at large. Homicide Detectives are actively investigating.
And of course there was the big mall shoot-em-up down at Southcenter yesterday: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/389051_mallshooting23.ht
There is a common thread in many of these, and it is the same one that brought the death of Quincy Coleman here on Halloween. We’ve got an escalating problem in the Seattle region with gang-involved kids that have access to guns and no qualms about killing their rivals over the smallest of issues. I doubt there will be any quick fix, but it seems like time to try everything we can.
(BTW not seen a “14 per rule” since the Kyle Huff Capitol Hill Murders several years ago)
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See also: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/389118_shooting24.html
and (for some mothers banding together):
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/389102_families24.html
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Monday’s City Neighborhood Council meeting includes a segment on youth violence:
The Monday, Nov. 24 meeting of the City Neighborhood Council will be 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the West Precinct, 810 Virginia St. In addition to a decision on a proposed at-large position for Southeast Neighborhood District Council (7:25 p. m.) and CNC’s annual elections (8:20), there will be at 6:35 a report on the budget that the City Council is expected to adopt that afternoon; and a 6:45 roundtable on youth gangs and violence featuring City Councilmember Tim Burgess, Lt. Ron Wilson (commander of the Seattle Police Department’s gangs unit); and Steve Daschle of Southwest Family Services. The Nov. 24 CNC agenda and background are at http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoodcouncil/2008_011_Draft_Ag
Thanks for posting the article about the mothers banding together… it literally brought tears to my eyes. I have a 13-month-old son, and I can’t imagine going through what they have.
what does taking the pill or wearing a condom have to do with the tragedy of these children getting shot.
I’ve never come across the term “14 per rule” before.
It’s the size of the emergency response required under certain conditions – I think it is the minimum number of personnel to deal with an unusually serious situation. More common are “6 per rule” and “7 per rule.” We see it on the Fire Department Incident report that some of us follow, so it refers to fire/medical responders, not police. The web site is http://www2.seattle.gov/fire/realtime911/getRecsForDatePub.a&incDate=&rad1=des. There may be a shorter version of the url, but I can’t immediately find it.
As long as completely truthful posts like “There’s no solution…” get hidden because they might offend some black criminals then THERE WILL BE NO SOLUTION.
The Blame Game doesn’t do anything to help the situation. It’s one thing to vent your frustration at how slowly things change, but it is unconstructive and bigoted to rant about THOSE people. Get your ass up out of the chair and go do something to help. Be a mentor, volunteer at the Boys & Girls club, donate some money, pick up litter on the street, organize some games in the park, have a block party, paint out some grafitti….. Do something and don’t be such a whiner.
But the “blame game” does actually point out who is really to blame. If we are accused of being racist or bigoted for simply pointing out FACTS then nothing will ever change.
As far as … “Get your ass up out of the chair and go do something to help. Be a mentor etc. blah blah blah” goes, no thanks, I’d rather stay alive. I also actually have to get up early in the morning, leave before sunup, GO TO WORK TO PAY TAXES SO THE GOVERNMENT CAN TAKE MY MONEY AND USE IT TO PAY PEOPLE LIKE THIS TO KEEP SQUATTING OUT WORTHLESS SPAWN, and then I get to come home after dark to take care of MY family.
Maybe you have the time and energy to help people who will not help themselves. I sure don’t.
“Get your ass up out of the chair and go do something to help. Be a mentor, volunteer at the Boys & Girls club, donate some money, pick up litter on the street, organize some games in the park, have a block party, paint out some grafitti….. Do something and don’t be such a whiner.”
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Well, the “indigenous inhabitants” of this neighborhood have made it extremely clear how they feel about “gentrification” and “interlopers”, both on this site and elsewhere, so it’s pretty clear they would view me as a meddler who was sanctimoniously trying to “uplift” them. Perhaps they are not as helpless as they believe?
It has everything to do with this tragedy. Unplanned and unwanted, these children become victims and/or perpetrators of random violence, because no one cares.
The root of the problem is rotten parenting, mostly by people who were not ready to be parents. It’s not necessarily that they don’t love their children, they just have no idea of what they’re getting into, and there’s no support for them in a culture that glorifies machismo and violence.
Sorry if that’s controversial. I certainly don’t mean it in a racist way. Maybe I’ve just lived here too long, and have seen too many generations of it.
Man, everytime I come to this blog I am dissapointed and saddened by what folks have to say here. Not only is it already deeply disturbing to hear about what is happening to youth in this community, it is equally disturbing to read all the hurtful and racist attitudes that seem to thrive on this website. Is this really the place that we’ve gotten to? We don’t know what is going in these children’s lives. I am sure that there are folks, family members, etc that do care about these children, yet assumptions are made based upon folks own prejudices. I am starting to agree with you guys- there really is no solution.
It’s a Troll. Someone who signs in anonymously and tries to push people’s buttons by saying hateful things. Somehow they think it is fun.