A 20-year-old male fell more than 40 feet from Interstate 5 last night, while another was arrested and a gun was recovered following reported shots fired on Mid-Beacon Hill near Maple Park.
According to Seattle Police, officers responded to a shots fired call in the 4800 block of Corson Avenue South around 9:30 p.m. last night. When the police arrived on the scene, they saw several male suspects running away. One suspect was caught quickly, and a gun was recovered. Another suspect ran across the northbound lanes of I-5 and fell (or jumped) over the barrier between the northbound and southbound lanes at Airport Way South and South Snoqualmie Street, landing 40-50 feet below. A third suspect was found hiding in nearby bushes.
The fallen suspect was transported to Harborview with life-threatening injuries. The investigation continues.
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Thanks for keeping us up to date. What I’d really like to know, though, is what can or are people doing to help improve the situation? Is there any kind of community meeting being planned? Advice from police? Something? There are so many positive developments happening on the Hill between Jefferson and new restaurants/bars, I’d hate to see that derailed by this random and increased gun violence that’s been happening lately…
Tuesday August 7th is National Night Out. There will be many block’s in the neighborhood holding their block parties to discuss crime and drug prevention. Many law enforcement officials are at this event to discuss concerns communities have.
Check out http://www.northbeaconcouncil.org for all the blocks participating this year.
Seriously, this is getting scary. 🙁 Tagging seems to have increased as well, given how often I have to paint over it on the fire hydrant and crosswalk switchbox outside our house.
Such a great neighborhood for so many years; what changed in the past six months, to bring us to this situation?
To answer what can people do … I read that there will be a Town Hall meeting with the mayor and city officials on August 14th. It was noted in one of the Seattle Times articles and will be held at 5:30 I believe at a Lutheran church on Beacon Ave S. The SPD also can help neighbors host meetings in homes with safety officers.
Thanks for info about mtg. I too have noticed increase in past 6mo. What’s up?
I wonder if it’s something as simple as one gang house or something like that, serving as a tipping point.
People should not be so surprised about increased gun violence. Look. How many of you have felt the pinch of the economy? How many have noticed just how easy it is to carry a hundred dollars worth of groceries? How many have noticed that there are very few jobs available at the moment even for those who have the benefit of a solid education?
People at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder are pretty sure that their lives are not going to get better any time soon. If you have nothing to lose, then it stands to reason that you will do what you feel is best to get by, and heck, even if you end up in jail, you then will have a roof over your head and three square meals a day. (I had a relative who was a small time criminal and she used the jail as a hotel essentially, getting picked up intentionally in order to have a roof over her head as winter approached…)
If you do not understand why gun violence is increasing, then I would say that you have not tried to walk a mile in the worn out and ill-fitting shoes of the poor.
I am not condoning violence. Personally, I would prefer a ban on all privately owned guns with the exception of hunting rifles owned by hunters with current permits – one would have to change the permitting system slightly – but I know that I am in a minority here. You cannot have it both ways. Either we are free to own as many guns as we like of whatever sort, or we have rules that govern who can own what. If we maintain this freedom, there will be those who abuse it and all you can do at that point is put them in jail if they use their weapons in a criminal manner. This is a huge cost to society, but it is not for me alone to decide if it is a worthwhile cost.
Admittedly we’re living in the worst recession in ages, and a lot of us are indeed out of work. But I’m not convinced that’s the source of our hill’s recent spate of gun violence. Judging by the police reports, these shooters aren’t desperate adults robbing people for food money; they’re young people emptying their clips at each other and everything around them, with no care for the consequences. I’m thinking Wendi may be right about a drug house moving into the neighborhood recently.
With that said, though, this is a good time to point out that local food banks are in need of donations year-round. It’s easy to remember people in need when the winter winds take down our power lines again (’cause you know they will, heh), but donations drop significantly in good weather. So the next time you’re down at QFC, if you have the means, maybe grab a few extra items for Northwest Harvest?
@Wendi Dunlap…may I asked u where did u get dis info?
Source for the article was the SPD, as mentioned in the post. My comment further down the page was just random speculation. I don’t have any specific knowledge about why the violence got so bad for a while.