A more complete report on today’s West Seattle bank robbery and ensuing police standoff downtown is available here.

Police opened fire on the suspects after warning them at least 10 times that they’d shoot if they didn’t get out of their vehicle. One suspect was shot in the neck and taken to Harborview, while a construction worker sitting in a nearby van was injured by shattering glass from the gunfire.

Witnesses said it was “like something from Hollywood,” and one even said he thought the scene was a movie being filmed.

Insane….

Photo by evil robot 6

I was leaving the off-leash dog area next to Dr. Jose Rizal Park earlier tonight when a local resident approached to give me a warning. Allegedly, there have been 6 women raped in the neighborhood over the last two weeks; the most recent of which was on Monday. He told me that it hasn’t been reported much in the news because (in his opinion) the victims were homeless women likely camping in the park at night.

I searched online and only found one mention of the incidents.

This park is located next to the landmark Amazon building on Beacon Hill, formerly the VA Medical Center. I’ve taken my dog there a few times but since there is rarely anyone else there, we prefer to go elsewhere. I was alone in the park with my dog for about 30 minutes and while I was aware of my surroundings, if something had happened I do not think anyone would have known.

The resident also informed me that there is a large work party coming in on Saturday and Sunday to help clear out the brush and debris to make it a bit safer for those who use and live near the park.

Edit to add: Seattle Times report, King 5 report.

Riding the bus home last night was a little bit of an adventure. Not in usual way – although there was some of that as well – but in the fact that riding through West Seattle was a little surreal. First, there were a few police vehicles and a fire engine at the gas station at the corner of Admiral and California. When I looked out the window, I could see at least 5 men tending to one woman, who was sitting up against the station wall holding something to her head. A scene that reminded me somewhat of my Memorial Day weekend. The bus trundled on and I got back to Julia Child’s Life in France.

A few minutes later when we arrived at the last stop on Alki, I disembarked the bus to a large crowd of teenagers. It was after 11 so I was a little shocked. Not that I think teens can’t be out at that hour, but that the beach park closes at 11. Huh. As I turned towards home, I saw a huge crowd of people and several police cars and heard the worst ear-piercing noise that I think the police were using to disperse the crowd. I should have tried to figure out what was going on, but with the bull horn announcements for people to leave, I just turned on my street and went home.

West Seattle Blog reported yesterday that there was some end of the school year shenanigans at Alki around 8 p.m., but otherwise there’s no mention anywhere of what was going down last night. That can’t be the same thing, can it? Anyone have a clue what was up?

The man accused of opening fire at Seattle’s Northwest Folklife Festival, wounding three people, had obtained a concealed-weapon permit from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office even though federal and state laws should have prevented him from having one.

Clinton Chad Grainger, 22, has been on a methadone program for drug addiction since he was 18 and also has a “history of anxiety and mental illness,” according to King County Superior Court booking documents. Federal and state law prohibits people with mental illness or drug addiction from obtaining a concealed-weapon permit.

(Article)

Grainger is accused of firing his gun during a fight during the popular Memorial Day Weekend festival. A single bullet passed through one man’s nasal passage, another man’s forearm, and finally lodged in a woman’s thigh.

I don’t know if you guys have been paying attention to the saga of the single feet, with or without shoes that continue to wash up on nearby beaches, but the AP reported today that they have found a fourth foot.

I brought this up at a dinner party several months ago, when I saw the first article, noting that it sounded like some awful horror movie screenplay. One of the other folks thought it seemed more like gang activity. What do you guys think? Gangs? Serial foot-chopper? Jaws, come to life? Have fun this Memorial Day, but whatever you do, keep your right foot out of the water!

One the most famous crimes of the 1970’s took place in 1971 in the airspace over Washington State. A man who identified himself as Dan Cooper hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines flight and demanded a ransom of $200,000. (That might not seem like much reward for the risk today, but when you adjust for inflation, Cooper was asking for what would be over a million dollars today, definitely improving the risk to rewards ratio.) After receiving his ransom, Cooper ordered the pilot to fly to Reno. At some point he jumped out of the plane and neither he nor most of the money he received was ever seen again.

Although just about everyone familiar with the case has a theory, the mystery of what exactly happened to Cooper and his money has never been solved. Obviously, it’s not a high profile case any more, but the FBI would still like to solve it. One of my favorite blogs, Investigation Discovery, got a copy of the FBI’s press release about the case and did a nice little write-up here, which is a good starting point for getting to know the tale.

Like a lot of people, I think Cooper died the night he jumped from the plane, although I’ve never fully made up my mind if I think he thought he could actually make it or if that point he realized that the odds of getting away with his crime were really slim and considered parachuting into the darkness to be his version of going down fighting. What do you think?

Seattle will close all its automated public toilets by July 1, the City Council decided this afternoon.

Although people were using the five high-tech, self-cleaning silver stalls, the toilets also fostered illegal behavior, said Council President Richard Conlin.

The toilets are at Victor Steinbrueck, Hing Hay, Waterfront and Occidental parks and at 1801 Broadway. The council voted to install them four years ago to provide facilities to tourists and homeless people.

Seattle Public Utilities has spent $5 million on the contract for the restrooms.

Via Seattle PI

The City of Seattle has announced four potential locations for a new Seattle jail.  (See this story in the P-I for a nifty map showing the potential sites.)  One is up on Aurora, past Northgate, at a driving range.  One is at Interbay, currently occupied by a bunch of businesses.  The third option is at Highland Park Way SW and West Marginal Way SW, near the First Ave Bridge and the final choice is a 12-acre site at 9501 Myers Way S, next to the training facility for the fire department. 

The jail is necessary since on December 31, 2012, the King County Jail won’t house any misdemeanor offenders, choosing instead to focus on felons. 

Finding a jail site is always difficult–who wants a jail in their neighborhood?  I sure don’t.  But the jail has to go somewhere.   To me, the most logical choice is the site near the fire training facility, but, as it just so happens that there are wetlands at the Myers site that stand a very strong chance of being destroyed if a jail is built there, despite the city’s promises to build around them without disturbing them.    The other locations all have residential housing around them which means major organized neighborhood push back. 

So, tell me, where do you think the jail should go?  Better yet, tell the City.  They’re planning a series of community forums to discuss the issue, but in the meantime you can check out their page all about the project, which includes a contact link. 

Don’t worry, Seattle. You haven’t mistakenly clicked over to Slog. I just couldn’t resist posting this story. BoingBoing reports that two women are claiming a ghost has been having sex with them in Federal Way. One woman says this has been happening for 2 years!

Perhaps it’s due to the increased patrols on 3rd and Pine that pushed these kids up the Downtown corridor a bit. My friend Gabriel posted this on his blog moments ago:

Anyone else witness this?