Community Post

Shots at 26th and Spring and at 29th and Cherry – 9/25/12 — UPDATES

Lots of action in our neighborhood tonight.

At about 7:30pm there were 7-8 shots fired right at the intersection of 26th and Spring, just north of the traffic circle. Officers recovered at least 7 casings.  I went out with a bunch of neighbors to talk to the officers there.  

At a little after 10pm, a car was shot at on 29th and Cherry.  I listed to the police scanner and it appears that there might have been a mother and baby in the car at the time.

EDITOR’S UPDATE: Police verified via Twitter that shots were fired near 28th and Cherry. A vehicle and building were damaged. No victims were located. Shell casings were found, but no suspect description is available.

Wednesday, 9/26/12 Update: Seattle Police have released details of what they are calling three separate shooting incidents around the Central District last night. No injuries have been reported but detail on all three incidents is relatively slim. Seattle Fire tells us a unit was dispatched to 20th Ave early this morning to assist a minor suffering from anxiety following a drive-by shooting incident.

At approximately 7:30 pm last night, East Precinct officers responded to a report of shots fired in the area of 26th Avenue and East Spring Street.  When officers arrived they located several spent 9mm shell casings on the north side of the intersection.  They contacted a witness who stated that he heard 6-8 gunshots.  The witness also stated that right after he heard the shots he saw a black male in his twenties, wearing a black sweatshirt and dark pants running eastbound on East Spring from 26th Avenue.

The officers conducted a thorough area check for the man seen running and any possible victims related to the shots fired, but no one was located.  The seven shell casings found at the scene were collected and submitted into evidence.

In a separate shots fired call, officers responded to a parking lot in the 2800 Block of East Cherry Street just before 10:00 pm.  One of the officers actually reported hearing 7 shots fired in the area just before the 911 call came in.

Officers responded and met with a victim in the parking lot at 28th and Cherry who told them the following:

She had just pulled into the parking lot with her infant daughter and was preparing to enter an apartment building when she heard several shots fired.  She looked toward the southwest corner of the building where the noise was coming from and she saw a black male wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and covering his face with another t shirt, firing a handgun toward her direction.  The victim stated that she began honking her horn and yelling as loud as she could to attract attention and then saw the suspect run behind the building.  The woman then called 911.  She told officers that she did not recognize the man and she did not believe there was anyone else in the parking lot at the time.  Neither the woman or her baby were injured.

A number of officers had responded to the call and containment was set up.  A K-9 team responded and began a track, but the suspect was not located. Officers located a car in the parking lot parked one stall south of the victim’s with a bullet hole in the driver’s side window and front passenger side window.  The registered owner was contacted by police and informed of the damage.  The victim’s car sustained damage on the rear passenger side door.  Another car in the lot appeared to have been struck in the front radiator.  Officers recovered 7 shell casings from the southwest corner of the building where the victim said the suspect was standing.  The spent shell casings and other items of evidence were collected.

In the third shots fired/shooting incident, officers responded to a residence in the 700 Block of 20th Ave just before 3:00 am this morning.  In that case, several 911 calls came in stating that shots were being fired in that block, and one actually came from inside the house stating that the house was being shot at.  Officers arrived and contacted four people inside the house.  Fortunately no one was injured, but officers did find at least fifteen bullet holes in the front of the house and one bullet hole in the side window.  Inside the house, officers recovered five bullet slugs and one fragmented slug from the next door house.  Across the street on the west sidewalk officers found twenty-four 9mm spent shell casings.

Officers spoke with the occupants of the house.  They all stated that they did not hear or see anything other than the shots.  Officers interviewed everyone at the scene and collected all of the evidence.  Detectives will handle the follow up investigations.  If anyone has any information on any of these incidents, they are urged to contact Seattle Police.

29 thoughts on “Shots at 26th and Spring and at 29th and Cherry – 9/25/12 — UPDATES

  1. We’re working to learn more and to confirm the details in this community post (thanks, PublicDefender!). We’ll update when we know more.

  2. There do not appear to have been any medic response dispatches, which suggests that no victims were located. We may not know much more until tomorrow.

  3. The editor’s update mentioned Twitter posts by the police. Is there a hashtag that we can refer to?

    I am really ready for this violence to end.

  4. Speaking of that, in the following hours there was some activity on @CDScanner on twitter ( https://twitter.com/cdscanner). I wonder if these events are related to the initial 10pm incident:

    FELONY WARRANT SERVICE: 00:14 Location: 23 AV / E CHERRY ST
    ASSAULTS, FIREARM INVOLVED: 02:02 Location: 2700 E SPRING ST
    FELONY WARRANT SERVICE: 04:00 Location: 2800 E MARION ST

    Interestingly, I didn’t see an item in the scanner for the original 10pm event.

    The scanner is only certain automated dispatches, yes?
    Is this telling me that somebody called 911 at 2am?
    Or is it a error of the times being offset? That is, is that “2:02am” assault actually the 10pm incident?

    Either way, the felony warrant services in the neighborhood is interesting.

  5. The tweets are just what ever the tweet officer feels like putting in. Not at all comprehensive of police activity.

  6. I was woken up with what sounded like a string of 5-6 shots from an automatic weapon (mac10?). But due to the fact that I called in fireworks last week, thinking they were gun shots, I didn’t bother about these. Don’t know what time it was, but thought it would have been after 10pm.

  7. We were definitely woken up at 2:55am to 15 semi shots around 21st and Columbia. Neighbors called the police. Scary!

  8. I also heard a series of shots shortly after the 7:30 incident at 26th and Spring. These were coming from south of 26th and Marion. Cops said it may have been fireworks, but sounded similar to the earlier shots to me. I also heard the ones at 10PM.

    The cops are definitely looking for evidence, so call the cops, talk to the cops, let them know if you saw anybody or anything, especially cars or people that may have been involved.

  9. Shots were fired from an automatic or semi-automatic weapon at a house at 2:55 AM on the 700 block of 20th Ave. Police collected at least 10 shells. An ambulance came, not sure if anyone was taken.

  10. Who has 5 or six fire crackers? They come in either 1 packs or 25+ strings. Most people buy the 50 or 100 strings. So – if fire crackers then you get one at a time or an extremely rapid but inconsistent popping. A fully automatic would be fast but steady. A semi automatic is as fast as the finger and usually sequenced. Pop pop —- pop pop pop. The shooter will fire a few, re-target, and fire a few more.

    If he blasts off 10+ in a steady row with the semi-auto he is probably just firing in the air or practicing.

    There is a huge difference in the pace of fire between crackers and gunshots. We are not hearing fire crackers. Stop the wishful thinking.

    Armed bandits are roaming our neighborhood. They intend to threaten and harm each other. Some of them are desperate and will take out anybody for a cigarrette. They’ll just as soon club a blind 80 year old woman, a developmentally disabled man, or you. They don’t care if you get in the way. It is about business. The business of stealing, robbing, pimping, selling oxy, meth, crack etc, racketeering security. These are mostly not the dope dealers, but, some. You can buy dope from all kinds of people. These guys are true gangsters, some up and comers and some deeply rooted bad asses.

    Don’t be fooled. We are not talking about Jamal the 10th grader. We are talking about guys who gave up caring about you and your society. They know how to act as if they care, but, they can flip a switch and cut your throat for a dollar. Wake up. Dial 911. Peer outside carefully and note what you do see, report it. That white buick cruising by at 2:30 was either the shooter, the shootee, or a buddy. It ain’t a coincidence.

    Then go back to sleep. They’re not coming to get you. Just be carefull and vigilant outside even in the daylight. Check out the SPD video on twitter of the guy being clubbed for his sholder bag. Scary stuff!

  11. Agreed. It was SPD who said it was fireworks, not me. I still didn’t think so, so I put my call into 911. Haven’t seen it reported anywhere so not sure what came of that incident.

    But in any case. Be diligent, report anything and keep a watchful eye.

  12. Why aren’t cameras installed at this intersection since it seems to have lots of shootings. Wouldn’t this help?

  13. Ditto. SPD tries to get me to say it’s fireworks every time I call in. If you say maybe it’s fireworks, they don’t bother sending anyone. If you insist it’s gunshots, we get more patrols and more priority for programs to reduce gun violence.

  14. I hope they have cameras,as if they don’t…
    “One of the officers actually reported hearing 7 shots fired in the area just before the 911 call came in.”
    What will the gun shot detection system do differently?

  15. Thanks gang.

    Fireworks – the very idea of them suggesting such a thing is maddening. It must be for their efforts to show progress in reducing voilence statistics. If you keep denying it – then in a few days people forget. I always love the folks how jump in and tell us that crime is down, violence is down, look at the statistics. Yeah, not much shooting going on here in the CD. Jeez. My blood boils at the reckless negligence of SPDs and our citizens response to the warfare on our streets. When did I move to Mexico? Am I going to move to Mogadishu next? Let me know, I must be sleep walking.

  16. “What will the gun shot detection system do differently?”

    Here’s my story from last night. After the second round of shots went off (as I found out later in the vicinity of 28th and Cherry) I watched out my window (in the vicinity of 26th and Marion – several blocks to the NW) as cop cars fanned out on all the avenues and alleys around my house.

    About 10 minutes after the event, I heard cops asking pedestrians on 27th @ Marion which direction the shots came from…

    I hope you can guess what a detection system – that can place the location and type of shots within 50 feet – would have done differently in this case. Not even to mention dispelling the “it’s just fireworks” response to 911 calls.

  17. hmm… wonder where all this is coming from? we all know damn well which two houses (at least) are responsible for this crap on 27th! why can’t the police know what we know, or do something about it? hopefully that felony warrant put at least one of them away for a bit. seems silly that they can sit outside all day dealing drugs in the open air, and shoot up the neighborhood all night and we can’t stop it. i feel bad for you if you live anywhere near 27th and marion/spring. heads up people, be careful out there.

  18. ‘hello. I’m calling from 23rd and cherry,hearing gunshots.’
    ‘oh. Are you sure it’s not firecrackers?’
    THAT IS THE MOST MADDENING, STUPID thing I have ever heard. Get a grip SPD. It’s as if they want this to continue. We all need to call/write in about this. How condescending.
    Well said,Grumbo. We need more people like you in the neighborhood.
    Stay safe and calm,all.

  19. When you call the East Precinct, the option to report shots fired comes AFTER the option to get a gun permit, and takes about 2 minutes to get through to someone who then asks not for the approximate location of the shots but for your own address. This is maniacal stupidity on the part of the SPD. If I hear shots fired from 30th & Cherry, why on earth would you send an officer to MY HOUSE which is ten blocks to the East?

  20. Can’t echo what tkiehne said enough. Precinct resources are based in large part on 911 calls. Don’t call the precinct, call 911. Do it if you think you hear fireworks. Do it if you think you see something suspicious. Don’t worry about being wrong or feeling silly. Just do it.

  21. The police and the City are well aware of the two houses you’re thinking of (which have long histories). It’s not that simple, though – what exactly would you have them do? Sustained organization and working with the cops and the City are what’s needed; I can’t recommend enough that folks attend the EastPAC meeting tonight at Seattle U.

  22. Get a sling shot and start random pinging at the house. Just a shot or two at the roof a couple times a week. Get them on edge. This won’t be solved until they drive themselves off a cliff.

    See the movie Grand Torino again and again. Eastwood at his best. To bad we can’t have him in the white house with and empty chair for VP. Man. That would make my day!

    Don’t piss on my back and tell me it’s raining.

  23. Its not SPD’s fault. They don’t answer to the public, but Mayor McGinn does. A competent Mayor should be aware of the situation and actively pressure the police chief to spin up a task force to shut them down. As far as I can tell this isn’t even a blip on McGinn’s radar.

    Barring the intervention of a high ranking public official (like the Mayor), the shootings, prostitution and flagrant drug is not going to be a priority for SPD. Isn’t there an election coming up? Maybe it’s time for a new Mayor.

  24. Actually, ain’t no thing goin to happen until the neighbors attack them head on.

    It’s not the mayor’s fault. SPD could help, but, the citizens are sworn enemies of SPD. SPD try to step in and we go after them, get some of them fired, charged with violating the Gang Rights Act of Seattle. Enforced by Cheif Racketeer Hoodlum Osama Chigago.

    You want the bad guys out? Go to the hardware store and get some proper pick handles. Go to Cabala’s and get some home defense tools. Put up some brick walls in the front yard and re-enforce the doors and windows (Lexan tm).

    There are more of us than them. Let’s get ready and fix this thing.