Yesterday morning, Seattle's Chinatown-International District became the center of a police investigation following a reported shooting incident involving a 41-year-old man. According to the Seattle Police Department's official blog, the man was arrested for Assault and Unlawful possession of a firearm after brandishing and discharging a weapon in a public space.
Officers who responded to the scene near Hing Hay Park were notified at approximately 1:40 a.m., while simultaneously, analysts in the Real Time Crime Center monitored footage from community space cameras. They observed a scene of several individuals fleeing the area when responding to the incident, which indicated in the park the shooting possibly taking place, though the act itself was not captured on video. The suspect was seen running toward 6th Avenue South.
The rapid response of the police led to an arrest within two minutes of the initial 911 call. Upon locating the suspect on the 600 block of South Jackson Street, police found and confiscated a gun from his pocket. The arrest was carried out without incident. Further investigation revealed that before the shooting, the suspect confronted a woman and her boyfriend, leading to a verbal altercation and the subsequent threatening and shooting attempt, as stated by the victim.
Despite the gravity of the situation, neither the woman nor her boyfriend was injured during the altercation. The victim recounted, "he was going to kill her," a grim declaration the suspect made in the heat of the moment. The man, already prohibited from possessing firearms due to his status as a convicted felon, was charged and booked into the King County Jail. The case has since been assigned to the Gun Violence Reduction Unit for further investigation, as detailed by the SPD blotter.
