Seattle police searched the 3300 block of South Horton Street in the Mount Baker neighborhood Thursday afternoon for a man who may have a firearm and may be experiencing a mental health crisis, while John Muir Elementary School sheltered in place as a precaution just steps from the scene.
Officers were searching for the known suspect after police believed a man with a firearm may be in the area and possibly in crisis, according to the Seattle Police Department
. The department posted on social media Thursday that there is no known danger to the schools, which have been alerted, and that the action is precautionary while police search the area. Police asked the public to avoid the block while the search continued. As reported by
KING 5
, the search unfolded in the 3300 block of South Horton Street, the same block where John Muir Elementary sits.
A School Built for Over 300 Kids Sits in the Middle of It
John Muir Elementary serves about 333 students in grades K-5. The campus shifted into shelter-in-place status during the police search rather than a full lockdown.
The district also highlighted new safety upgrades across its campuses last September, including intercom improvements and office-based buttons that can put a school into shelter-in-place or lockdown, as well as classroom alert buttons that notify the main office, security team and administrative team, according to KIRO 7.
Police Officers Searched South Horton Street
Seattle's Community Assisted Response and Engagement Department, created in October 2023 as the city's third branch of public safety alongside police and fire, runs the 911 Communications Center and deploys unarmed Community Crisis Responders for behavioral health calls, according to the City of Seattle. A 2025 agreement allows Community Crisis Responders to be dispatched without police to certain calls with no known dangers. Seattle police officers searched South Horton Street Thursday.
Washington law offers a separate pathway for what might happen if the man is located. Under RCW 71.05.153, part of the state's Involuntary Treatment Act, officers and Designated Crisis Responders can take someone into emergency custody for evaluation if that person poses an imminent risk of serious harm tied to a mental health disorder, according to the Washington State Legislature. Whether a Designated Crisis Responder evaluated the man under that statute, or whether he was located at all, remains unknown.
Hoodline previously covered a related incident in January, when South Seattle schools lifted a shelter-in-place order issued after unconfirmed reports of ICE activity nearby. It remains unclear how long John Muir Elementary stayed under shelter-in-place before Thursday's dismissal, or whether the suspect was located.
