A Sunday night 911 call alerted police to a man with a gun near 21st Ave and E Cherry. According to the SPD report, below, the suspect ran and tried to ditch the gun — officers caught up with the 19-year-old and found the pistol he had tried to get rid of by throwing the loaded gun onto the roof of a convenience store. Full report from SPD on the incident is below.
On May 8th, at approximately 8:00 PM, witnesses called 911 to report that there was a man holding a gun in the area of 21st Avenue and East Cherry Street. The witnesses descibed the man as a black male and provided a clothing description. East Precinct officers arrived immediately and located a possible suspect matching that description. The suspect had his hand across his body inside his jacket. Officers ordered the man to show his hands. The suspect turned and ran. During the foot pursuit, one of the officers observed the suspect throw a gun onto the roof of a convenience store at the corner of 23rd Avenue and East Cherry Street. The officers were able to catch the suspect about a half block later and take him into custody. The witness was brought by the scene and positively identified the suspect as the one he saw with the gun. Officers were able to retrieve a loaded .380 semi auto pistol from the roof of the store. A check of the gun showed it was a reported stolen gun from Auburn. The 19 year old male was later booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of VUFA and Possesion of Stolen Property.
…neighborhood watch and SPD. Surely saved someone a scary moment.
Amen to that.
One gun has been recovered, and countless more are still out there. So the fear of young people with guns hasn’t realistically been given much relief by this arrest here. Now a kid is in jail and this is going to make his life a lot harder. Witness if you are reading this what did you really want to accomplish here? You would rather see a young man from your neighborhood behind bars than on the streets with a gun, even though you’re no safer because of it? If your concern is youths with guns you might want to explore more constructive options than locking people up in cages.
Hmmm – let me see if I got this right, we should just let people walk around the sidewalks with guns. Not in my neighborhood, or city for that matter. “two minutes ago” needs to wakeup and realize the danger of just letting this happen.
With the resent spate of shootings ( seems a white car and driver was involved in the last two ), I would be conserned that this young man was possibly attempting to make a statement of “not in my neighborhood” (kind of a mistaken effort at a one man deterant). Sad to think of it in those terms, but when he has possibly grown up in fear of such violence, he may feel it necessary to make a stand ( mistaken though it was ). I suppose we just need to be grateful our local SPD representatives were able to prevent any harm to this young man.
I also kind of wondered why several commentors ( this blog ), automatically assumed a gun was a danger, as I don’t know that a gun in and of itself is a danger. It made me wonder, … was it the face, age, gender, or what about the person carring the gun that was a danger? Was he pointing it at people, or spinning it like an old cowboy movie, what? Just curious! Thanks
…Or maybe, because of the recent uptick in shootings near this location the witness contacted police because they were trying to be proactive and perhaps stop another senseless shooting. Or perhaps the witness thought the young man fit the description of the suspect who was shooting an innocent driver from the passenger seat of a car last week, and in case it was indeed the same person, the witness wanted police to know?
I find it disturbing that suddenly a witness who was likely hoping to hinder any further violence in our neighborhood is suddenly the one with his or her motives being questioned.
Bravo, witness. I’m glad you’re my neighbor.
Yes, just an innocent kid with a stolen gun. I’d feel much safer if he were on the street in front of my house than in police custody.
At least one of the recent shots fired incidents was road rage. Common sense dictates that people don’t feel safe when another person is openly displaying a gun nearby unless there is clearly safe and appropriate purpose. For instance, aiming a gun on a shooting range aimed at the appropriate target would be expected. Here, I would argue that the caller may well have saved this teenager from getting involved in a more serious situation where he actually hurt someone or was hurt. Since the gun turned our to be stolen, I have to admit that it reinforces my sense that the caller did everyone a favor and gave this young man a chance to rethink his actions before something more awful happened in his life.
You are kidding right? Possession of stolen property? You really actually wonder if this ‘kid’ should not be in jail? GIVE ME A GD BREAK. I hope his sentence is long. Stop making up excuses for the rats, we need to be harder on crime, or do you think a gentle kind conversation as to why he is brandishing a gun on a busy street is more in line? I have read it all now. Shocking.
Calling 911 didn’t make his life harder. Being in possession of a stolen gun did.
are a part of our lives because of people who brandish stolen guns. People with registered guns have no reason to run from the cops, even if an officer sees someone ‘had his hand across his body inside his jacket’. If the officer asks to see hands, fine. If he asks to see permit, fine too. Nobody goes to jail and neighborhood is safer. Buy your gun from a registered dealer, register it and know how to stay safe. Go to the range with your friends, it’s fun. Call 911 on everyone with a gun in a neighborhood. If you steal a gun or buy a stolen one for nefarious purposes… a system of dealing with that exists, better be smart and lucky. You can change the path you choose, right up until the system chooses for you. Good work, people.
The SPD representative’s point is well taken.
With guns that scare me are police! they enjoy killing blacks you know! as well as other “non” whites….