At 12:21 PM on Monday, November 12, the Seattle Fire and Police Departments responded to a 911 call saying that a woman in Headlines Salon at University Village (2623 NE University Village St, Ste 60) had accidentally shot herself.
View Headlines Salon location in a larger map
For those familiar with the upscale shopping area, Headlines Salon is located across from Something Silver and Ben Bridge, and next to Bryn Walker and restrooms. Witnesses we talked to who were sitting outside at the nearby Starbucks heard no shot and saw nothing amiss, until fire and police vehicles began arriving. We are waiting for a more detailed report to appear on the SPD Blotter. Meanwhile, Seattle P-I reporter Casey McNerthney shared the following:
U Village shooting was self-inflicted; SPD said it was reported as accidental. Woman was unresponsive, had .45 caliber gun.
— Casey McNerthney (@mcnerthney) November 12, 2012
We will update this post with more information when we have it.
UPDATE (3:52 PM): KING5’s Environmental Specialist Gary Chittim was in the area after the shooting, and took a picture of the salon’s exterior:
Shooting at this salon at U Village believed to be self inflicted. No word on victim pic.twitter.com/5I3H087v
— Gary Chittim (@garychittim) November 12, 2012
And the Seattle Police Department’s twitter feed for the Union 2 Beat now shows the call (tweets by beat are all delayed an hour or so):
Beat:U2, ASLT – IP/JO – PERSON SHOT OR SHOT AT at 46XX BLOCK OF VILLAGE CT NE reported on 11/12/2012 12:22 PM
— SeattlePD Union2 (@SeattlePDU2) November 12, 2012
UPDATE (7:54 PM): Via the SPD Blotter:
Officers responded to a 911 call at a Hair Salon of a accidental shooting. Today, just shortly after 12:00 noon officers responded to the University Village Mall on a report that a woman had shot herself. Officers arrived on scene and found a 60- year- old female in an office inside the salon. The woman had a self inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
The Blotter post goes on to say that the woman was in her office, with the door closed. A gunshot-like sound was heard, and witnesses opened the office door to find the woman slumped over in her chair, bleeding. Seattle Fire responded and transported the victim to Harborview Medical Center where she was undergoing surgery at the time Detective Renee Witt wrote the Blotter post — which, according to this SPD tweet was prior to 7 PM.
According to Seattle Police, it is still unknown at this time whether the self-inflicted gunshot was accidental or intentional.
UPDATE (Wednesday, November 14): We have learned from the medical examiner’s office that the woman died on the day of her injury. (“Cause of death: Contact handgun wound perforating chest. The manner of death is suicide.”)
If and when there is an obituary available, we will list her name and link to the obit here.
We do not know anything else about the circumstances leading to this death. But we offer this information from our local news partners at the West Seattle Blog:
[I]f you or someone you know is considering suicide, or in another life-crisis situation, call this 24-hour hotline to reach the Crisis Clinic: 206.461.3222.
UPDATE (Sunday, November 18): The obituary for Dorothy Anne Bledsoe is in today’s issue of the Seattle Times, and online here. According to the obituary, Anne and her husband Michael owned Headlines Salon together for over 32 years, and lived in Laurelhurst.
Peace be to her memory.
Ann called my son earlier that day to take her to a gun store to buy a new gun because she thought something was wrong with her current gun. My son was on his way to pick Ann (deceased) when the ACCIDENT ocurred. When my son arrived at the salon, police was already on the seen.
Thank you for the additional information.
We published the medical examiner’s results verbatim, just as they were recorded. But “accidental” will appear in the rest of the post and the headline as that is how the call came in to 911, and how SPD shared the information on the Blotter.
We hope that your son shared this information with the police at the scene as well (we imagine so, but always feel a duty to double check).
Yes he did share with police on scene, however, the police failed to get his contact information. My son also told me that he and Ann had an appointment at the gun store (this can be verified). She wanted a new gun so she can give her old gun to her sister who was coming to live with her. I am only stating verifiable facts. Her cancer was in remission.
Questions: If it was suicide, why would she call my son THAT morning to take her to get a new gun? Why would she set the appointment to leave the shop with my son at 1:00 PM after her salon appointment which was coming in at 11:45 am and Ann said would be finished with them by 12:45 pm? She had the money in her purse to purchase a new gun (verified by police). Here is another question: How can the ME determine suicide with an investigation? Thanks!
A police officer on the scene had been told it was a suicide as she had learned she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer….
She did not have cancer. Please be aware this woman has family and is a wife and mother.
Why would she want to give a gun that she thought was malfunctioning to her sister? It is all very sad, too bad there wasn’t a different outcome to her situation.
We have tried to work with, nonetheless it won’t works in any way.
Why did Ann do this to herself when my mom, her 20 year customer and great friend was sitting in her chair? Do not understand. Still very painful for mom who loved her. Also Ann was very kind and gave free services to my sister Sheryl who recently passed.