The Seattle Times has identified the dead gunman in Sunday night’s shooting at 25th and Cherry’s Twilight Exit as 33-year-old James Anderson and reports on his troubled relationship and recent run-in with police in a November incident also at the Twilight. According to his Facebook profile, Anderson was a Seattle Central student and a regular in the Belltown hip-hop scene. He leaves behind a son who is less than a year old.
According to most recent reports, both of Anderson’s victims remain in stable condition in the hospital.
The injured Twilight bouncer has been identified as Greg McCormick.
UPDATE: The Seattle Times reports that the officer who shot Anderson was four-year veteran Anthony Ducre. He won the department’s medal of courage in 2012.
In accordance with department protocol, he has been reassigned in the aftermath of the shooting.
Meanwhile, bar staff have been working to clean up ever since police left Monday and plan to open tonight (Tuesday), though trivia is cancelled.
CDNews spoke with owner Stephan Mollmann Monday evening at the Neighbor Lady, where left-behind bags, coats and cell phones were laid out on the pool table waiting for their owners to reclaim them. Mollmann described entering the bar after investigators had finished, seeing drinks and phones abandoned on tables exactly where they were when the shooting started.
On one table, there was a half-finished beer, a cell phone, and a nearly full birthday cocktail.
Mollmann said he sees the shooting as a domestic incident that could have happened anywhere. He hopes the bar can move past it and get back on its feet quickly.
Haz mat crews and Twilight staff have been cleaning the restaurant and lounge, especially the bar area where the shootout between Anderson and police occurred.
There will very likely be a fundraiser for McCormick at the Twilight soon, said Mollmann. He described McCormick as such a nice guy that Mollmann was originally concerned that he could not be “enough of a jerk” to be a bartender (“sometimes you gotta be a jerk to be a bartender”).
“That seems ridiculous now,” he said. McCormick took a bullet to his thigh while trying to keep Anderson out of the bar, where he had been ejected shortly earlier.
Mollmann is concerned that McCormick’s disability pay, which does not account for tips earned, might not be enough without the fundraiser. Stay tuned for details.
UPDATE: Just in from the Twilight:
Karaoke Benefit for Greg! Sunday February 10th! twitpic.com/bzcodi
— Twilight Exit (@twilightexit) January 29, 2013
A couple writers for The New City Collegian, an independent publication of Seattle Central Community College, were at the Twilight Exit when the shooting occurred. NCC interviewed them and several other witnesses about their experiences:
Arielle Chilcote-Barnard was in the Twilight during the shooting describes her horrific run in with the gunman and a conversation he had with his alleged ex. “Fuck you, you ruined my life, you took my dogs,” she reports the gunman saying to his alleged ex. Chilcote-Barnard ducked behind the bar only feet away from the gunman saying a woman began crawling over her trying to escape, drawing the shooter’s attention. “I don’t want to hurt you guys, get out of here,” Chilcote-Barnard reports hearing the gunman say. Chilcote-Barnard then left the bar and describes hearing “six consecutive-gunshots” which was Seattle Police killing the shooter after he opened fire on them. She was later taken downtown with about 20 others on a King County Metro bus to speak with police. She wanted to emphasize to New City Collegian that despite recent shootings in the Central District that this is an event that “can happen anywhere”.
Another witness, who spoke to NCC on the condition of anonymity, describes his account of the deadly shooting.
The witness initially arrived at the bar at 10 p.m., about fifteen minutes before the incident. “We got there at the same time the guy [gunman] showed up…he had gone in just ahead of us.” The witness says after the man entered the bar he (the witness) was stopped by the bouncer after an argument erupted between the shooter and his alleged ex. The bouncer apologized to the man for the incident saying, “sorry this is very unusual.” The witness entered the bar and the shouting was still occurring, adding that after the gunman was ejected by the bouncer “things calmed down.” What came next left the man rattled and fighting to save his life.
“There was just a pop and I think several people thought it was a party popper…Then I heard what I assume was the barman screaming and yelling: call 911.” The shooter re-entered the bar and “everybody kind of jumped up and ducked,” the witness says.
“I just looked around for an exit.” The witness ran towards the kitchen passing the shooter and “saw the gun in his hand.” “My brain just shut down and went into autopilot.” The witness ran into an employee in the kitchen and they both proceeded to a fenced-in patio in the back, the witness tried to hop the fence but couldn’t make it over. He proceeded to lock himself in a storage closet with three employees until they heard more gunshots. After police radios were heard inside the bar the witness and employees left as police secured the area.
Here is a short documentary about the officer that put down the asshole at the Twilight Sunday night. It seems like all you hear about in the media are the douche cops. I’m thinking we’re lucky to have this guy in the east Precinct. Cheers to your bravery Officer Ducre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XO6fP4WCQU
Are you kidding. SPD guns down another of our people and you make that some time to promote him as a hero? Most people in this city are tired of the beetings and murder commited by police.
The man was having emotional problems that could have been addressed with time, patience, and some consideration. There is never a right to gun down our CD citicens.
You’re right in that the SPD has a bad reputation. You’re wrong if you think that the shooter needed “time and patience.” When you’re shooting up a bar, the only “consideration” needed is how to get him to stop. If you shoot at the cops, you’re going to get return fire. Period. Considering the shooter was the only death, I think that the outcome in this situation was pretty good. Sure it would have been nice had the shooter dropped his gun and surrendered but clearly that wasn’t going to happen in this case.
I would suggest we wait for the facts to come out. Let’s see what videos exist. Just because a bunch of drunk folks at a bar say they saw something doesn’t make it so. I’ve observed many unreliable witnesses make up whole stories that seem to make sense of what they did not see. It is human nature to want to make sense of things and share a story. Doesn’t make it true. Let’s not rush to judgment.
The shooter walked into a bar and opened fire. He was not entitled to the benefit of the doubt beyond that point. No one owed him their life.
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