Seattle has seen its fair share of crime busts, but none so juxtaposing as the recent arrest of teenagers with a trove of weapons – and an unlikely companion, a high school geometry book. Last Monday, officers responded to reports of armed individuals near a suspicious Chevrolet Malibu, a vehicle previously linked to a September 20 shooting, detailed in a news release from the Seattle Police Department (SPD).
The adolescents were apprehended in the Seward Park neighborhood, the car having rolled into a police cruiser in their escape attempt. Four suspects, two 16-year-old boys and two girls, one 16 and another 17, were captured while two others remain at large. In the aftermath, officials uncovered a startling array of firearms which included a submachine gun, handguns with extended magazines and auto switches – and alongside these, innocuous items like a geometry textbook and an ID card were found, myNorthwest.com reports.
The SPD, investing further into the case, managed to secure a warrant to search the Malibu. What they found could be described as an arsenal: multiple guns with extended mags and auto switches, a backpack with a ski mask, and an ammunition crate filled with rifle bullets, relays FOX 13 Seattle. These items paint a startling picture of the potential violence that was averted, given especially the residential nature of Seward Park Avenue South where the teens were spotted.
Three of these accused youths are now being held at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children & Family Justice Center, while the 17-year-old girl has been relinquished to her guardians, testament to the policy of offering some measure of grace depending on the circumstances. With the Gun Violence Reduction Unit on the case, SPD expects to dive deeper into this disturbing find and the network from which these arms proliferated.
