From Seattle’s East Precinct, Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The officer involved shooting yesterday on Jackson Street started when suspects in a suspicious vehicle tried to make a getaway. For one of those suspects, it wasn’t the first time he’s been involved in an incident like that.

Although we’re not yet naming the suspect in the absence of formal charges, “Suspect A”, 28 years old, has previously pleaded guilty for attempting to elude a police officer and received a 12-month sentence for that crime.

The vehicle then sped away, running red lights and stop signs. Deputies terminated the pursuit, but later found the vehicle idling empty under the Viaduct.

A scale found in that vehicle tested positive for cocaine.

A warrant was issued for Suspect A’s arrest in the eluding case, and he was later located and brought to trial. He pleaded guilty in June of 2008 to Attempting to Elude a Police Officer and Third Degree Assault.

Suspect A has two other recent felony drug convictions. In a 2007 incident, he pleaded guilty to drug possession after he was found to be hiding a bag of cocaine in his rectum when he was booked into King County Jail on a separate offense. In a 2006 case, he pleaded guilty to a drug charge after he was picked up by Seattle Police for a hand-to-hand drug transaction in Pioneer Square. He has a longer history of misdemeanor drug convictions as well.

Suspect A’s last known address was in the 8400 block of Delridge Way.

Out of the two other suspects taken into custody yesterday, one is a 17 year old juvenile, and the other is a man in his 20s who hasn’t yet been positively identified by police.

It’s not clear which of the three suffered the bullet wound to the hand.

A fourth suspect remains at large.

From Seattle’s East Precinct, Tuesday July 7, 2009

Today at about 5:15pm, East Precinct officers were involved in an incident that included shots fired, a collision, and a foot pursuit along Jackson Street.

It all began when a two-officer team was investigating a suspicious vehicle with stolen plates in the parking lot of the 7-Stars Mini-Mart on the southwest corner of 20th S. & S. Jackson. There was an altercation between the officers and the car’s occupants, and one or more shots were fired by an officer. It is not clear if any of the shots struck the suspects or their vehicle. The suspects then drove away in the white 4-door Lexus, headed westbound on Jackson.

Other police units were already responding to the scene when the suspects drove away, and one of those encountered the vehicle in the 1800 block of S. Jackson, causing the suspects to bail out of the vehicle and leaving it to roll down the hill, striking that second police car. An officer in that car suffered minor injuries in the collision, but was not taken to the hospital.

The three four suspects were pursued and three were successfully caught by police. One was caught several blocks away in the 1800 block of S. Lane, where a neighbor told me that he heard the suspect screaming in pain before he was taken away by police. One suspect is still at large.

SPD spokesman Jeff Kappel said that one suspect suffered a non-life-threatening injury to a hand in the incident and was transported to Harborview for further treatment. Although scanner traffic indicated that one suspect was shot in the hand, the nature or cause of that specific injury could not be confirmed by police. [update: police are now saying that that suspect’s hand injury was likely a bullet wound]

A loaded handgun was recovered near where the suspect vehicle collided with police in the 1800 block of S. Jackson. Police say it was dropped by one of the suspects as he exited the vehicle.

Jackson street was shut down in all directions for almost three hours while police investigated the crime scene.

Detective Kappel’s briefing is included as a video clip above. More details should be available later tonight – we’ll update this as we learn more.

Update – New details from an SPD press release:

The car was originally occupied by four suspects, and the fourth one is is still at large. Our update at 6:10pm described him as a light-skinned black male, 5’5″, stocky build, light shirt, dark pants.

The reason for the original investigation of the vehicle was because the plates didn’t match the vehicle description. This is a common occurrence on stolen vehicles – plates are swiped from another car and placed on the hot vehicle to keep it from being immediately identified as stolen.

The vehicle’s occupants were uncooperative when police approached, and the driver allegedly tried to run over one of the officers as they drove off, resulting in an officer firing multiple rounds at the driver. Police now say that the suspect with the injured hand was the result of a gunshot wound.

The officer involved in the shooting is on paid leave while the investigation continues, a common step whenever an officer is involved in a shooting.

Here’s our original breaking-news report:

Jackson Street is shut down in both directions with a large police response to a shots fired incident.

Medics are on the scene too, but it’s not immediately clear if there’s any injuries.

A white Lexus is parked in the middle of the street with front end damage.

A man in the crowd says that his cousin was at the store at 20th and Jackson, when police tased them, chased them, and then shot at the car.

More as we get it.

From the radio: 5:20PM An officer was heard yelling “Shots fired, 20th and Jackson”. Multiple officers were then involved in a foot pursuit with three black juveniles resulting with one officer apprehending two suspects at 19th and Jackson. The third suspect, with a gunshot wound to the hand, was apprehended several minutes later in the 1800 block of S Lane. There was some confusion locating all of the officers involved, but all were accounted with no major injuries. A firearm was located at 19th and Jackson.

From Seattle’s East Precinct, Monday, July 6, 2009

Despite the overwhelming city feel of most of the Seattle area, rural tendencies are becoming popular in many Central District neighborhoods as more and more urbanites take control of their own food supply. For the first of a series on urban agriculture, CDNews visited the Samuels residence on Columbia to see what they have cooped up in their back yard.

Tracey Samuels and his wife Tiffany have been reaping the benefits of a small collection of hens they’ve acquired in the past year. It began when a stray chicken wandered into the yard while Tracey was mowing, who then brought it to his daughters that took the hen in as a pet. But by request from Tiffany, and with the help of an experienced neighbor, Tracey built his own coop and run, purchased two more hens, and started harvesting eggs. The Samuels said that they get about one egg per hen per day, and give away a good portion of them to neighbors due to their daughters’ distaste for eggs. On top of that, the chicken manure composts into great fertilizer for other neighbors’ agricultural endeavors.

The Samuels said it only cost about $200 to set up the coop stock a month’s supply of food. They had just acquired two chicks to replace one of their original hens, costing them only $15 per chick. City code permits up to three domestic fowl in addition to up to three other small animals on single-family lots. “They are a really low maintenance animal, and they have become part of the family now,” said Tracey. “There’s no neighborhood disturbance either…they’re great”.

Editor’s note: Give a big welcome to Lucas Anderson, our summer news intern at Neighborlogs who will be working on some great stories here on CDNews for the next couple of months. Stay tuned for more in his series of urban farming in the CD.

Mugging on 17th and Columbia. Four young men in black masks with 2 guns. Heard of someone else getting mugged that same night by same assailants. Keep your eyes and ears open.

A 25 year old man and a woman in her teens were shot this evening at about 6:45pm as they sat outside the Garfield Community Center at 23rd & E. Cherry. The victims and witnesses reportedly told police that a vehicle opened fire at them as it drove past. The good news, according to East Precinct Captain Paul McDonagh, is that neither of the victims’ injuries are considered life-threatening.

The victims ran across the street after the shooting to seek shelter at the AM/PM convenience store, and were treated by medics there before being taken to the hospital.

The victims told police that they did not recognize their assailants. SPD officers are at the hospital with the victims to attempt to get additional information, and are following up on possible leads about the vehicle involved in the shooting. SPD gang units are assisting with the investigation.

Today’s shooting broke a streak of relative peace in the neighborhood. Our last recorded incident of gun violence was back on April 11th, when a woman survived a shooting at 27th S. & S. Irving.

Just an hour after the shooting today, police were called back to the intersection at 23rd & Cherry to help a man with mental health issues who had cut his wrists. He was restrained, treated by medics, and taken to Harborview for further medical and psychiatric attention.

Here’s our original breaking-news report:

It appears that at least two people have been shot in the parking lot of the AM/PM on the steps of the Garfield Community Center at 23rd & Cherry.

One was just taken away by an ambulance, while medics treat another one near the store’s entrance. More as we get it.

As you may know, the plant store Envy has moved out [update: and moved over to 15th and Madison, opening later this month] and the commercial space (on the SW corner of 25th and Union) is currently available. A few locals and I want to quickly poll the community and ask: what kind of shop would you like to see there? We probably couldn’t open a full diner (which I agree from earlier posts would be better suited at 23rd & Union), but we’d certainly love to open something that would benefit the community. Thoughts?

Vote on your favorite option here

The kind of holiday bbq that you don’t want to be invited to is happening in the parking lot of the Curry Temple at 23rd & Spruce. A congregant says that the owner had just purchased the older gold Honda Accord. He noticed it smoking as he drove into the parking lot, telling the pastor “you may want to call the fire department – I think my car is on fire.”

A fire department officer at the scene described it as “a small little thing” as other members of the Engine Six team used a metal saw to open up the hood of the vehicle.