(Added: Photo by David Hutchinson)

12:03 AM: Police and fire are responding to 60th/Alki for a report of gunfire with at least one person possibly injured. Updates to come.

12:07 AM: Police are now saying there are three victims at 60th/Alki, one more headed to the hospital via personal vehicle. One of the victims at the beach is reported to be getting CPR. Police are closing off Alki Avenue at 61st.

12:15 AM: Police have told dispatch that one victim is dead.

12:26 AM: Police are detaining one person at Harborview.

12:38 AM: They’re also investigating a vehicle at the hospital that may have been associated. No confirmed information yet on the other victims’ conditions.

1:33 AM: Just got victim updates from SFD spokesperson Kristin Tinsley. She is aware of three victims, all believed to be in their 30s: One man who died at the scene, one woman and man taken to the hospital, in stable condition.

2:46 AM: This is the first homicide of the year in West Seattle, first deadly shooting on Alki in four years.

3:37 AM: Police now confirm the fourth victim. They say witnesses report the shootings were preceded by an argument between two groups. SPD also tweeted a video briefing at the scene from Chief Adrian Diaz (click to watch):

The tip line mentioned by the chief is 206-233-5000.

4:27 AM: After 4 1/2 hours, police are about to clear the scene and reopen the street.

11:41 AM: No new information on the investigation yet – we will likely have a separate followup report later. Two notes from early police summaries: First – the shooting happened when police were already on their way to the area after a report of a “disturbance involving a handgun.” Before they arrived, dispatch updated it with reports that people had been shot.

During the investigation, there was one related arrest – the police report about it says officers were dealing with a “chaotic” scene and “hostile crowd” including one person who “refused to step outside of the crime scene, which was clearly marked by crime-scene tape. Officers made numerous attempts to reason with this person who refused to leave the active crime scene. Officers attempted to escort the suspect (after numerous futile attempts at reasoning) outside the crime-scene tape whereupon one officer was struck in the face by the suspect. Officers then placed the suspect under arrest for assault and obstruction, and the suspect spat on an on-scene supervisor.”

That’s Margarita‘s food trailer, when she’s using it, which she can’t do until she gets it back. She sent the photo and report:

I’ve owned and operated Mamacita’s Bad Ass Mexican Food for a couple of years. I own a small food trailer. In that time the trailer has been attacked and almost stolen 3 times. Well, today someone finally succeeded. It was stolen from 46th & Lander St. in West Seattle. 2020 complexly shut us down. We are just getting started for the year, and I have 3 events booked that i now cannot do. This is my livelihood for me and my daughters and granddaughter. I have been through hell and back in the last 6 years and this business was supposed to be my saving grace.

The trailer was last seen at 1:30 AM by a neighbor, and I believe I heard commotion around 5 AM which could have been the trailer being stolen. Police report number is #21-159383

(WSB photo)

Police investigated a report of gunfire on Alki around 6:15 tonight. The preliminary report says witnesses reporting the shooter walking past Pepperdock Restaurant in the 2600 block of Alki Avenue SW, then facing southbound on Marine Avenue [map] and firing a round south, toward Alki Playfield/Whale Tail Park, before running away westbound. No one was hurt and no property damage was found; when we talked with police at the scene, they hadn’t found any evidence, but later they turned up “an unspent .40-caliber bullet” back in the 2600 block of Alki. Officers called in the Gun Violence Reduction Unit. The report does not include a description of the shooter other than “male” but mentions that he “was possibly with two other males during the incident.”

Another theft-linked car to look for – as well as the motorcycle taken in the theft. From Melody at Nucor:

At approximately 12:20 pm, a red Honda Civic drove into the employee parking lot of Nucor Steel Seattle. They parked by the motorcycle, where the driver got out and stole a teammate’s motorcycle. The motorcycle and the car both quickly left the parking lot and were gone by 12:26 pm. Here are photos of the car, suspect and stolen motorcycle.

Please call 911 to report any sightings of either vehicle – SPD incident # 21-157556

Just yesterday, we reported on a daylight catalytic converter theft in a West Seattle Junction parking lot – with a passerby’s photo of a black Mercedes that the thieves had pulled up alongside the targeted Element. Today, a WSB reader spotted that Mercedes at 39th/Juneau and called it in (the dispatcher told officers the caller had read about it here). Officers responded and called for a tow truck to impound the car so the Major Crimes Unit can investigate it. They told us they hadn’t yet verified whether the car was stolen, but they called it “suspicious,” noting that potential theft tools including a jack were in plain view inside.

That photo came in from a reader on Wednesday, with this report about what he saw after 7 am that morning:

I was strolling north in the alley between 44th & California, in the block south of Oregon. I heard the unmistakable sound of a reciprocating saw against steel for just a brief moment. I looked in the direction of the sound & spotted a black Mercedes parked very close to a Honda Element. They must have seen me and stopped. In the time it took to pull out my phone and take a photo, the Honda came down off a jack, and something, probably just the jack, was loaded into the back seat area.

Unfortunately, that apparently was the catalytic converter from Gayle‘s car. She later emailed us:

6/23, at approximately 7-7:15, the catalytic converter was stolen from my 2007 Honda Element. My car was parked in a Diamond parking lot close to the sidewalk on 44th Avenue near Oregon Street. I saw a black Mercedes pull in next to mine and later learned they were the thieves. A police report (21-156316) has been filed. … The thieves were driving a black Mercedes 5500 (sedan). The driver was a white male and the passenger is believed to be a white female. If anyone else was walking by or coming through the parking lot and has any information, please contact the police and/or reply on the blog. This is happening far too often and in the light of day next to a busy road.

Here is another photo with a closer look at the front of the car.

It did have a rear plate, which began with ASL.

Amanda hopes you will be on the lookout for her stolen car:

My 1993 Honda Accord LX was stolen from North Admiral.

1993 Honda Accord LX 4 door
Purplish-brown color with red pinstriping
License plate: ABE8926

Call 911 if you see it.

Thanks for the tips. Here’s why police were at 42nd/Morgan in Morgan Junction this past hour: They were dispatched to a report of a strong-arm robbery at West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) – a shoplift turned violent, with the would-be thief/robber reportedly physically fighting with a store employee. Shortly after arriving, police arrested a woman at a bus stop just east of the store; SFD medics were called but weren’t commenting at the scene.

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports:

STOLEN CONSTRUCTION TRAILER: Sent by Billie Jo:

This is a black dump-style trailer with wood sidings added to it and an electric covering. This dump trailer was last seen located at 6011 37th Ave SW Seattle, WA and belongs to a small local construction company. I’ve attached a photo of what the trailer would look like without the wood siding added to it. Plate number 56401AA; tab Number P410628. Please call 206-276-7164 if spotted or Seattle police (911).

LOOKING FOR CRASH CLUES: One of the victims of a driver who hit at least two parked cars in Highland Park is trying to sort out what happened and wondering if there were any witnesses,

This happened near 11th and Holden but debris were found at 13th/Webster; our tipster says the debris suggest the other vehicle was a white Ford. The other vehicle might have been impounded but the victims are just trying to find out what happened and were told the police report won’t be available for at least a week. SPD incident # is 21-154036.If you know anything about the crash, contact us and we can connect you.

Early this morning, someone reported to 911 that they heard suspected gunfire near Admiral Safeway. Later in the morning, employees at Umpqua Bank – next to the supermarket – found the source. According to a preliminary police report, the employees “found two bullet holes in the glass of the bank … a thick laminated glass and it shattered from the bullets.” They called police, who. the report says, “recovered two bullets from the floor of the bank.” Incident number is 21-154202.

(update) Three reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

ANOTHER CATALYTIC CONVERTER STOLEN: Carly reports her parents were visiting her in Admiral when their Prius was hit by catalytic-converter thieves last night It was parked on the street near 42nd/College, by the library.

(added 7:24 pm) AND ANOTHER: Since we published this, Scott emailed to report, “Thieves got my Element converter AGAIN …. 2nd time in about a month. Belvidere area, 5 am Saturday.”

CAR VANDALIZED: A texter reported their partner’s rear car window was shattered by a beer bottle this past Thursday, while parked by her workplace, Les Schwab Tires (WSB sponsor) at Fauntleroy/Alaska. The vandal also “left dents all around the back.”

A guilty plea and sentencing have closed the case on West Seattle’s first 2020 murder, the killing of 41-year-old Jana Layman in her Junction-area home. Her then-roommate Solomon Whitt, now 26, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder as well as to child-rape and child-pornography charges that resulted from discoveries made during the investigation. Last Friday, according to court documents, King County Superior Court Judge Douglass North sentenced Whitt to 31 years and two months – top of the standard sentencing range – for the murder, and concurrent sentences from six to 23 years for the other charges. As reported here after he was charged in January 2020, Whitt said he attacked the victim after she asked him to move out, and tried to make her death look like an accident.

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports:

CAR AD LEADS TO CAR CHASE, GUNFIRE: The preliminary summary from police says this happened just after 8 pm tonight: “The victims responded to an OfferUp ad to purchase a vehicle. They agreed to meet up in the area of 12th Ave SW / SW Webster St and waited in a park parking lot.” They were using the app to communicate with the seller when a vehicle pulled up. Three people got out and approached the victims, pointing handguns at them “while demanding cash and other items of value.” One robber fired two shots into the air before all three got back in their vehicle and left, the victims said. They followed the car northward, fast, and the reprt adds: “During the vehicle chase, a suspect fired additional shots from the moving vehicle,” which almost hit a third vehicle while continuing to speed away. The victims lost sight of it and pulled over to call 911; by that point, the report notes, “Officers had responded to the initial scene to investigate multiple 911 reports of vehicles speeding and shots being fired.” The robbers, however, were not found.

ANOTHER CATALYTIC CONVERTER TAKEN: The latest report is from Nicole:

Car was parked in the Louisa Boren school parking lot due to construction on Delridge Way. Happened sometime between Thursday late night- Sunday early morning. They sawed the converter right off the car. Police report was filed.

If you’re keeping track of what vehicle makes/models get hit – this one was a Lexus XS

Three Crime Watch reports tonight:

MAN HURT TRYING TO STOP TOOL THIEF: According to a preliminary police summary, this happened mid-morning in the 7900 block of 34th SW. The victim was working on a house when a red Chevy Silverado pulled up. A man got out and, police say, “grabbed a Rotary hammer tool kit from the back of the victim’s truck, and placed it on the back of the Chevy. The victim jumped on the pickup bed, and the Chevy sped up. The victim was pleading for the (thief) to stop, but he increased speed and started swerving.” The truck slowed at 30th/Trenton St to turn, the report says, and “the victim grabbed his tool kit, and jumped from the truck.” He suffered non-life-threatening head and leg injuries and was taken to the hospital. Police searched for the thief but didn’t find him. The incident number is 21-145568.

CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THEFTS THWARTED: This happened in South Park but we have the preliminary summary since that’s also the Southwest Precinct, and the crime category is of wide interest. Police arrested two people after 5 am today who are accused of trying to break into a fenced property in the 8700 block of 7th Avenue South to steal catalytic converters off tour buses. The report says “in their possession were two electric saws with their initials on them (and) bolt cutters.” The buses’ owner had been hit a week ago by someone breaking into the yard and stealing five catalytic converters.

CAR WINDOW SHATTERED: Reader report from Michelle near Fauntleroy/California:

Sometime (Thursday) night, my car was shot with either a pellet or BB gun and shattered my window. The car in front of mine was affected as well. Reported this to the police at 7 am (Friday) morning. Thankfully no one was hurt and nothing stolen.