Shooting behind U-District Safeway (UPDATES)

Around 5:12 PM, Seattle Fire and Police responded to a shooting on the south side of the Safeway at Brooklyn Avenue NE and NE 50th Street in the University District.


View Shooting behind Safeway in U-District in a larger map

According to information heard over police scanner, some suspects fled the scene in a black Hyundai SUV, traveled through the Roosevelt neighborhood, and attempted to get onto I-5 northbound. The vehicle was spotted and stopped by multiple officers on I-5 just north of Lake City Way. A gun was recovered by officers from the SUV.

Another suspect may have fled the area by a Route 70 Metro bus, getting off on Eastlake near Hamlin.

We’re adding more info as we get it.

 

UPDATE (6:11 PM): The SPD Blotter has been updated with the following:

Seattle police took five people into custody Wednesday evening following a shooting in the University District, which left one man with serious injuries.
Just before 5:15 PM police received several reports of gunfire near NE 47th Street and Brooklyn Avenue NE.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found a man in his 30s with a single gunshot wound lying on the ground near an alleyway.

Medics transported the victim to Harborview Medical Center with serious injuries and officers began searching the area for several vehicles, which had fled the scene moments after the shooting.

Officers performed two high-risk stops—one on an SUV on Interstate 5 near Lake City and another on a vehicle near 85th and Aurora—and detained five people in connection with the shooting.

6:15 PM: Reports on the scanner of finding bullet damage to the nearby Chevron Station and at least one vehicle (van belonging to University Seafoods and Poultry).

6:38 PM: We’ve heard from a parent that University Child Development School (5062 9th Ave NE) was on lockdown during the incident.

6:43 PM: The Seattle Fire Department reports that the “[p]atient is 40yo male with single gunshot wound in critical condition at HMC.”

And the SPD Blotter post includes this update: “Police arrested the suspected gunman on I-5…and have detained two other people. The other individuals stopped by police have been identified and released, and detectives continue to investigate the incident.”

 

6:56 PM: The Daily of the University of Washington’s Joshua Bessex just shared another picture from the scene with even more bullet evidence:

Friday, April 4: The Seattle P-I has obtained the narrative from the incident and has written up the details here: “Felon fresh from prison shot man in U-District.” Robert E. Montgomery has been charged with first-degree assault and unlawful gun possession, and remains jailed on $150,000 bail.

Memorial walk and rally planned for March 25; part of “Safe Roads” week

Tuesday, March 25, marks one year since the drunk driving crash that killed Judy and Dennis Schulte and severely injured Karina Ulriksen-Schulte and her newborn baby boy, Elias.

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To commemorate the day, the Wedgwood Community Council and the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association have organized a memorial walk and rally, starting at Top Pot Doughnuts (6855 35th Ave NE), and ending on the front lawn of Eckstein Middle School (3003 NE 75th St). A moment of silence will be held at the crash site at approximately 4 PM.


View Wedgwood DUI crash memorial walk and rally in a larger map

NE 75th Street will close to traffic from 31st Ave NE to 35th Ave NE during the walk (3:15-4:15 PM).

The rally at Eckstein will include speakers representing the Seattle Department of Transportation, Prevention Works in Seattle (WINS), Wedgwood Community Council, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Group, as well as:

  • Dan Schulte, Father, Husband and Son of Wedgwood crash victims
  • Marilyn Schulte, Daughter of Judy and Dennis Schulte, Aunt to Elias and Sister-in-law to Karina
  • Darrin Grondel, Director, Washington Traffic Safety Commission
  • Senator David Frockt, (D) 46th Legislative District
  • Courtney Popp, Mothers Against Drunk Driving

This event on March 25 is the first in a week-long series of events promoting “Safe Roads Awareness Week,” and focuses on raising awareness of the need for DUI prevention and stricter DUI laws.

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A summarized schedule of events for the rest of the week includes:

Wednesday, March 26th, Distracted Driving Day
The Wedgwood Community Council (WCC) and volunteers will be holding signs during the morning/evening commute to remind folks that the phone call or text can wait.

Thursday, March 27th, Slowdown Day
Again, the WCC and volunteers will be holding signs at a busy intersection during morning/evening commutes.

Friday, March 28th, Share the Road
Again, the WCC and volunteers will be holding signs at a busy intersection during morning/evening commutes. SDOT will make a major traffic safety project announcement.

Dozens of guns stolen from home near Roosevelt High School

A resident of the 6800 block of 15th Avenue NE, just northeast of Roosevelt High School, reported a robbery at his residence on Friday, January 10, while he was at work. Among the stolen items were “20-25 handguns and 20 rifles and shotguns.”


View Burglary on Friday, January 10 in a larger map

In the police report narrative for the incident, the victim states that he left for work at 9 AM and returned around 2 PM and “found someone had gone through his house and stolen multiple items.” The victim had locked the house upon leaving in the morning, but had not set the alarm as he is in the process of moving. No forced entry into the house was found; however, the garage door can be opened by hand. This is how the victim believes the burglar both gained access and left.

Among the stolen items reported by the victim were near a dozen watches, cash in various places around the house as well as larger amounts in two small bags in the kitchen, and dozens of guns:

He said he had about 20-25 handguns and 20 rifles and shotguns. He could not name all the makes and models of the guns but said he would get them and send them in on a victim follow up. He stated that many of the handguns were from his Dad and Granddad and were from World War I and II. He said missing were a Colt .45, Webbly .357, Colt Huntsman .22, Luger, Walther, several Smith and Wesson to name a few. He stated he also had an AR-15 for one of the long guns. All the guns and handguns were in a closet in the bedroom or in drawers in a built in closet.

Also reported missing were 5-7 gym bags.

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Thank you to Michael Hawthorne of KOMO News for bringing this incident to our attention.

Bank robbery in Roosevelt (UPDATES)

Just after 4 PM on Thursday, January 2, the Seattle Police Department reported that a bank robbery had taken place in the 6400 block of Roosevelt Way NE.

SPD has not yet released the name of the bank where the robbery took place. But by our count, there are two banks in this area: The Wells Fargo branch inside the Roosevelt Square Whole Foods, and the Umpqua Bank branch on the NE corner of Roosevelt Way NE and NE 64th St. (The Umpqua Bank was previously robbed on March 28, 2012.)


View Bank robbery in Roosevelt in a larger map

Anyone with information about this incident or who may know the identity or whereabouts of the suspect, please call 911 and refer to this incident. Anonymous tips are welcome.

We’ll update this post with more information when we have it.

UPDATE (4:47 PM): The SPD has released a photo taken of the suspect, taken from inside the Umpqua Bank (you can see the colored text of this location on the windows behind the suspect):

UPDATE (5:36 PM): The Seattle Police Department Blotter has a post up now about the robbery, which includes a couple more photos of the suspect.

Officer-involved collision in Roosevelt (PHOTOS, UPDATE)

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Looking west down NE 75th Street from Brooklyn Avenue NE toward the scene.

Shortly before 2 PM on Sunday, December 29, Seattle Fire Department units responded to a two-vehicle collision on NE 75th Street at 12th Avenue NE. A red sedan and a Seattle Police Department cruiser had collided and both come to rest near the northwest section of the intersection.

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Close-up of the collision scene, looking west on NE 75th Street.

According to Seattle Fire Department PIO Lt. Sue Stangl, all three people involved (one officer in the patrol car and two people in the red sedan) were transported to hospitals with minor injuries. The officer was transported to Harborview, which is standard procedure for the Seattle Police Department.

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Looking north down 12th Avenue NE.

Detours were in place to reroute traffic as investigators processed the scene, but at least some Metro bus routes were unaffected.

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Close-up of the two vehicles looking north down 12th Avenue NE.

UPDATE (8:58 PM): We heard from a resident close to the scene that NE 75th Street reopened to traffic just before 6 PM. And, prior to that, a neighbor brought the officers directing traffic some cookies.

Northeast Seattle BLACKOUT

It was around 5:49 PM that the tweets started coming in.

And it was swiftly followed by many…

…many…

…many…

…many more.

And of course this happened:

 

By the peak of the power outage, practically ALL of Northeast Seattle was in the dark. More than 43,000 Seattle City Light customers affected.

NE Seattle BLACKOUT

Seattle City Light posted the following information on their Power Lines home page around 8:30 PM:

After 5:30 p.m. this evening, a breaker failure in the North Substation caused a power outage to more than 43,000 customers. The cause of the breaker failure is still being investigated.

As of 8:30 p.m., customers in the area have been fully restored by crews.

The boundaries of the power outage included:

  • To the North – NE 123rd St.
  • To the East – Lake Washington
  • To the South – NE 35th St.
  • To the West – Aurora Avenue

We’ll update this post with more information should Seattle City Light further determine the cause.

Water main breaks between University Village and the NE 45th Street viaduct (UPDATE)

Updates appear at the bottom of the Storify window — hit the blue “Read next page” button below to view them.

…everyone knows it’s WINDY…(and rainy)

As the lights in Ravenna Blog HQ gave a few flickers just before 5 PM, and we started hearing reports of power out in Wedgwood, we decided it was a good time to start a running weather post for the rest of the evening.

With that outage in Wedgwood, we’ve seen not one but TWO tweets about using a crankable radio to listen to the Husky Football game happening right now:

In Northeast Seattle so far, there is an outage in Wedgwood affecting ~3,000 customers, according to the Seattle City Light hotline (206-684-7400 should you need to report your own outage). If you’re curious about outages in the city, you can visit the Seattle City Light System Status page for more information (mobile link here).

UPDATE 5:30 PM: Latest Seattle City Light outage map update showing 10 outages city-wide, with 1107 customers affected. No Wedgwood on the map yet.

5:44 PM: Latest outage map tally is “Number of Outages: 14, Estimated Customers Affected: 7870,” which does not include the Wedgwood outage. We’re hearing now of an outage on 100th in Meadowbrook. Might be part of the Wedgwood outage, but we don’t know until the map is updated with that information.

5:50 PM: Only one outage showing up on the map for Northeast Seattle, at the moment:

6:00 PM: “Number of Outages: 16 Estimated Customers Affected: 7872”

6:12 PM: A post from Seattle City Light just now lists the major outages in Seattle. Here are the ones in our area:

North -Serving Ravenna, Bryant, View Ridge, Matthews Beach, Wedgwood -2,858 customers without power -Estimated time of restoration is 11 p.m. -Cause weather related (wind, rain, tree branches) -Boundaries: N – NE 106th St; E – Lake Washington; W – 8th Ave NE; S – NE 75th St.

The post also says that 20,000 customers are currently without power in Seattle.

6:30 PM: Outage map update! Here are the clusters of outages in Northeast Seattle:

Football_outage

 

7:13 PM: Seattle City Light saying now that the number of customers without power is down to 13,000. And the time of restoration for the Maple Leaf/Wedgwood outage has moved up to about 10 PM. Cause is given as “tree.”

8:45 PM: We’ve heard from a few people in the Wedgwood area of the outage say that power has been restored.

 

But before that, around 8 PM, about 46 customers between Matthews Beach and View Ridge lost power. Cause now given as equipment failure, with a restoration estimate time of 4 AM.

Sunday, 7:34 AM: Outage map showing only four outages left in Seattle, three of which are in Northeast Seattle. Only 10 customers total affected, 9 of which are directly north of the Sand Point Country Club area.

7:55 AM: Some weather stats from yesterday, courtesy a weather station in Bryant that we use for such information: 1.45 inches of rain fell yesterday, and the average wind speed was between 9 and 13 mph (with gusts up to 28 mph).

As the large cold front approaches and comes inland this evening, wind speeds are expected to climb — the data in our area suggests we’ll be seeing sustained wind speeds in the low- to mid-20 mph range from noon on (High Wind Watch). Gusts to 60 mph are also possible, especially between 7 PM and midnight.

So, get your laundry and dinner done early. And don’t forget to charge your wireless devices so you can revisit this post for more information.

8:03 PM: Rain coming down steadily now, and the wind has picked up. Seeing gusts now in the mid-20 mph range. Rain total for the day (at the Bryant weather station) at 0.33 inches, with most of it falling in the last hour.

So far, only one outage in Northeast Seattle to report, and even it’s one that’s been going since 2:51 PM: Ten customers just south of Penguin Park (NE 93rd Street and 38th Avenue NE). Estimated time of restoration is about 10 PM.

8:12 PM: And as soon as I added the above outage to the post, it disappeared off the outage map! The power of neighborhood news, everyone.

Car veers off NE 75th St, 83-year-old driver injured (UPDATE)

Just after 11 AM on Tuesday, September 24, the Seattle Fire Department responded to a heavy rescue call on NE 75th Street just east of 26th Avenue NE.

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Seattle Post-Intelligencer photojournalist Josh Trujillo (left) takes a picture at the scene.

A vehicle was traveling *eastbound* [corrected] on NE 75th Street when it left the roadway, struck and disassembled a road sign (pictured above), and came to rest on a cement embankment on the side of a nearby home’s driveway.

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After leaving the roadway, the vehicle drove through parts of two yards before coming to rest on the embankment of a raised driveway.

The driver, an 83-year-old woman, was taken to Harborview Medical Center by Seattle Fire staff. She was transported in stable condition, said Seattle Fire.

20130924-130332.jpg

View looking dowhill (west) along NE 75th St at emergency and police vehicles at the scene.

Eastbound NE 75th Street was blocked for a time for emergency vehicles, after which Seattle Police officers directed traffic past the scene using the new left turn lane. The sidewalk on the south side was closed while police investigated the scene.

 

UPDATE (2:30 PM): A little more info from a Seattle Police Department Blotter post up just now:

Preliminary investigation indicates that an 83-year-old woman was driving her Honda Element eastbound on NE 75th Street.  Just after crossing 26thAvenue NE, for reasons yet to be determined, she left the roadway and drove over the south sidewalk, up an embankment and crashed into a house.

There were people inside the house at the time of the collision however, nobody inside the house was injured.

The driver of the Honda (and sole occupant of the vehicle) sustained serious injuries in the collision and was transported to Harborview Medical Center by fire department medics.

Traffic Collision Investigation Squad detectives responded to the scene and continue to actively investigate.

SPD estimates that NE 75th Street should be fully reopened around 3 PM today..

 

 

Teenager falls through skylight at Eckstein Middle School

At approximately 5:11 PM on Saturday, September 21, the Seattle Fire Department responded to a 911 call regarding a teenage boy who had fallen through a skylight on top of Eckstein Middle School.

Seattle schools security and Seattle Police Department officers also responded to the call, according to Seattle Fire PIO Kyle Moore and the SPD twitter feed.

A 13-year-old male was reported to have been climbing on the roof of the school with two other kids when he went through a skylight and fell 15-20 feet, according to the SPD.

The boy had loss of consciousness after the fall, but was transported by Seattle Fire Department personnel to a hospital in an alert and stable condition.

If/When we know more about the boy’s injuries and condition, we will update this post.