SPD has a report up this morning regarding some 4th of July shenanigans involving firepower much more dangerous than bottlerockets. But we’re looking into another Central District shooting incident with even more serious implications. Here’s the note we received on the Monday afternoon incident from neighbor Jesse:
There was a shooting at 23rd and Jackson this morning around 12:30pm, two people shooting at eachother across 23rd near the bank of America and the npower office. We heard about 4 shots and one b/m with dreds ran off and got into a black Mercedes suv.
There were no injuries related to the incident reported. SPD has not yet confirmed the details but we do see details of the 911 call that came in about the noontime incident.
UPDATE: SPD confirms there were several calls about one suspect shooting towards another near 23rd and Jackson. They said the incident occurred at 12:26 p.m. Both suspect had guns, but the report only notes one of them shooting. No suspects or victims were found, and no property damage was located. No other details were available.
In the meantime, here are details of the late-night shots fired incident involving a legally registered handgun that was quickly ditched but recovered by SPD. No arrests, SPD reports — but evidence and fingerprints gathered:
On July 4th, at approximately 11:39 PM, East Precinct officers responded to a report of a suspect firing shots into the air from a handgun in the 3000 Block of East Harrison Street. The report stated that a young black male was firing a gun into the air. Officers arrived and observed a group of black males who matched the description of the suspect. The group fled from the officers on foot, but were quickly caught and detained in the 100 Block of 31st Avenue East.
Officers recovered a .40 caliber Glock pistol and a partially loaded magazine for the gun hidden under a hedge in the yard of the house the group was stopped in front of, the home of one of the suspects. The original witness was brought by the detained group, but would not identifiy the suspect. A check of the weapon showed that it was legally registered to one of the suspects. Officers recovered several spent shell casings on the sidewalk. There were no reports of any injuries or property damage. Officers submitted the handgun, magazine, and shell casings into evidence for a fingerprint analysis and documented the incident. All parties involved were identified and released.
I wonder if these bullets ever come down and hit folks. I need to get a sturdier umbrella.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebratory_gunfire#Falling-bul
Between the years 1985 and 1992, doctors at the King/Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, treated some 118 people for random falling-bullet injuries. Thirty-eight of them died
http://www.news4jax.com/news/4041097/detail.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon%27s_law_(Arizona)
Another broad daylight shooting incident near 23rd & Jackson? Really?
That’s it, I am moving my family’s Rx from that Wallgreen’s back to a drug store on Capitol Hill. I want to support CD businesses but I don’t want to be shot in the process. Interestingly all the real estate development at 23rd & Union has sizzled but it’s been months since I saw or read anything about shootings at that corner. It seems we can’t have development AND crime-free corners around here any more.
What’s it going to take to get this madness to stop? I don’t think I want to know the answer – it won’t be good.
Eli – Setting aside any issues of good or bad shops near 23rd and Jackson, we just found the area had turned into an unsafe area for us. We loved the Starbucks, but even that was not worth risking our health and well being, especially when so much violence keeps happening near by.
Wishing you well in your search for safer and more compatable shoppimg areas.
It’s sad. I’ve lived in the neighborhood for many years (I remember when the Starbucks/Walgreens shopping area was a vacant lot, and when they added some local art to the block). Used to hit the Walgreens frequently, along with Hollywood Video and Papa Murphy’s when the kids were young. Sadly, the Walgreens has gone downhill and the “events” that are happening at that corner these days make me want to avoid that intersection at all costs. I do still shop at the Red Apple, sometimes, but admit I scan the parking lot before I get out of the car :( Sad to see it going downhill instead of up.
In the past I have seen and read comments about how inviting and useful the local shops at 23rd and Jackson once were, but how the experience has deteriorated, and the stores have lost the appeal they once had. Is it possible that there is something more we as CD residents can do to make this area more safe, and more inviting? I suppose we can not count on minimum wage Employees to take risks to protect us as Customers, if we do not do something more to clear this violence out ourselves.
I hear on the news how the city is beefing up SPD presencse in the Pioneer District and in the Denny Regrade neighborhood, but we seem to lag in both visibility ( news coverage ), and in political pull. Any ideas what we can do to improve this business area?
No property damage? A window of the Welch Plaza B building was shattered.
There are many who mixed feelings that 23rd and Jackson has changed, not only has the landscape changed so have the faces, however, most of you will agree there is one constant it’s alive. In 1992 every other face I saw was a familiar face, I rarely see anyone I recognize. People have moved in, others have moved on. The jury is still out whether or not the neighborhood change is for the better or worse. As I see it change is not necessarily good or bad, it is what it is. The CD will always be the CD It doesn’t matter who lives there, who doesn’t. For years to come, us baby boomers now old timers will sit around and talk about eating at Ms. Helen’s, Thompson’s Point of View, the old Garfield and Meger Evers before they were remodeled, the barber shops and AA meeting halls and all of the people who got sober and those who didn’t make it after the crack epidemic slowed down. One of the feelings I still get when I’m in the neighborhood, especially 23rd and Jackson, it’s alive.
agreed!
We all know that change must happen. We can influence it to be less painfull and have better result. The frightenning conditions along 23rd cannot be changed by police alone. Residents must stand on the corners and watch.
Stand on the corner, move around a little – back and forth between Walgreens and Starbucks. Look closely at the suspicious people in suspicious cars. Judge the as threat or non-threat. Ignore the non-threats. Watch the threats. Observe who are the criminal look outs, who are the deliverers, who are the suppliers, the customers, the thieves, the gang bangers, and the look alikes.
Just watch them. They will leave after 30 minutes. I you do this every other day and a few others do as well – just by standing on the corner we can drive out crime. Normal people with no worries will not be threatenned by your presence in your neighborhood.
On the negative site, you might get shot.
I love my neighborhood and don’t feel unsafe. I walk in it and drive in it at all different hours of the day. I love the staff at Red Apple and the smiling crew at Starbucks. Magic Dragon is great for a quick bite to eat and I like the owners. Living close to a lot of people always involves give and take. A gun going off only at night versus “broad daylight” doesn’t make it more or less safe. It is a serious bummer no matter what time it happens. All the more reason to be more visible in one’s community and shop and interact in it. I will do more and more business in the CD and appreciate my neighbors as well as the people on the street. Many characters walk up and down my block—some I keep my eye on, some are just passing through. I make sure I get to know everyone so I am educated about the landscape of my neighborhood. The CD is the best spot in the city and the best place to live! Punks live everywhere, even in supposed “safe” neighborhoods–there, they just usually hide behind closed doors.
And that Tricia is exactly the right thing to do. You feel safe because you engage and keep an eye on things. Thank you. If everyone would do the same the neighborhood actually would be nice in more than jsut your rose colored glasses.
a nice police station at 23rd and jackson would help. i would gladly pay more taxes for this. i wonder if that could ever make it on the ballot? it would save a lot of gas too – much shorter trips to 23rd and Cherry, 23rd and Jackson, 23rd and Yesler, etc etc.
Total Gentrification can not happen fast enough for me. Get rid of the gangsta’s and bring in the development.