Seattle Police have provided new details on Wednesday’s shooting that left 52-year-old Gloria Koch Leonidas dead in a First Hill parking lot as part of a string of killings that left six dead in Seattle.
According to police, witnesses said Leonidas fought back when killer Ian Stawicki approached her as she paid to park in the Town Hall lot after she dropped of a friend at the First Hill facility.
According to witnesses, Leonidas was hit and kicked by Stawicki. During the struggle, Stawicki dropped his pistol, then picked it up and shot Leonidas at point blank range.
Standersby and Seattle Fire rushed to her aid but she was dead at the scene.
Police have released audio from a 911 call made from the scene at 8th and Seneca. It is graphic and unedited. Please use discretion in choosing to listen to the audio.
8 Seneca 05 30 12 01 by Chs Blog
Police still don’t know how Stawicki traveled from the University District to First Hill but are searching the area for abandoned cars. At a news conference Thursday afternoon, SPD officials who reviewed security video from Cafe Racer said the images were some of the most shocking they had experienced in decades of police work.
“This is completely senseless,” SPD chief detective Jim Pugel said of the motive for the shootings.
“He knew he wasn’t supposed to be there,” Pugel said. “It appeared the barista was calmly refusing service.”
After the University District shootings, police say Stawicki took a hat from one of his victims and walked out of the cafe. His covered head may account for some of the witness accounts that described an attacker who appeared to have a short crew cut.
One witness tells police that Stawicki attempted to run over his victim as he left the parking lot in the victim’s SUV before fleeing to West Seattle where he attempted to contact an acquaintance and eventually shot himself as police closed in.
According to the City Attorney, as of 2010, Stawicki held a concealed weapon permit and reported possession of five six pistols:
Police have not yet confirmed that any of these handguns were used in Wednesday’s shootings which reportedly involved two .45 caliber weapons.
Out of the dark episode, a man being identified only by the name of “Lawrence” has emerged as a hero for fending off the shooter with stools inside the cafe allowing three people to flee the carnage. The Seattle PI also talked to people who came to the aid of Leonidas.
Community vigils are being planned for Friday night for a city wracked by recent gun violence.
More details on the killings at Cafe Racer and the manhunt that covered the entirety of the city from SPD are below:
A 2008 booking photo of Stawicki provided by the City Attorney’s office
A gunman killed five people in a violent rampage, and later took his own life after police cornered him in West Seattle Wednesday, following a five-hour citywide manhunt.
At 10:52 am, the 40-year-old suspect, Ian Stawicki, walked into Café Racer, near NE 59thStreet and Roosevelt Way NE, approached the counter, and ordered a coffee.
When Café staff reminded Stawicki they had banned him from the business—for his erratic behavior—he calmly turned towards the door. Stawicki then drew a .45 pistol, and opened fire on staff and patrons inside the café, shooting several of them at close range, execution style.
Four of Stawicki’s five victims in the café were killed in the shooting.
Police received a flurry of 911 calls about the shooting at 11:01, and officers were on-scene five minutes later. But by then, Stawicki had walked out of the café and headed for First Hill.
Following the cafe shooting, more than 100 detectives and officers from specialized units, along with patrol units and federal authorities, fanned out across the city looking for Stawicki.
A half hour later, Stawicki approached a woman in a parking lot at 8th and Seneca, pistol-whipped her, knocked her to the ground, and shot her in the head, fatally wounding her. The first 911 calls about the shooting came in at 11:32 am, and officers were at the scene by 11:34. But, again, Stawicki had fled the scene, this time in the woman’s Mercedes SUV.
Stawicki drove to West Seattle, and abandoned the stolen SUV—along with one of his handguns—near Delridge Way SW and SW Dakota Street.
Just after 4pm, a plainclothes detective—who was heavily involved in identifying Stawicki through surveillance footage from Café Racer—spotted Stawicki near 36th Avenue and SW Morgan Street. The detective called for backup, and officers moved in to arrest Stawicki.
As officers approached Stawicki on the street, he knelt to the ground, pulled out another .45 handgun, and shot himself in the head.
Medics rushed Stawicki to Harborview, where he later died from his wounds.
The Seattle Police Department is providing audio of several 911 calls and police audio fromyesterday’s incidents.
“Standers by”?
Presumably you meant “bystanders.”
metro? come on, that seems like an easy one.
asshole.
I read 2 accounts where the “car-jacker” was said to have a blond crew-cut, is that detail being stricken from the record?
Because need to know all the gruesome and gory details of these deaths…I wish I could unread that.
Even if he caught the 66 bus that was scheduled to leave 75th and Roosevelt at 10:56 AM, he wouldn’t have made it to 3rd and Union until 11:22. That doesn’t really leave him enough time to get up to the Town Hall area, commit the awful crime, and then have someone call 911 by 11:32.
Two specific reasons:
1. A mentally ill person not only owns mulpiple handguns, but a concealed carry permit.
2. A mentaly ill person is not in a state mental hospital.
My deepest personal condolences to the friends and families affected by this.
PS – even though America sucks, it sucks less than everywere else I have been or could go…
The real question is;
Why was a person, who’s family stated is ‘mentally ill’ able to have a concealed weapons permit? ( especially 5 pistols..!.)
Because America is in the thrall of right wing gun nuts who fetishize guns as replacements for their inadequate manhoods, and scream bloody murder anytime a sane person suggests we should enact gun control laws.
I understand we all have differing views on gun rights, which we’re all entitled to. But maybe lets shy away from that, and go more in the direction of mourning those who lost their lives to an obviously mentally ill man. This is something that has rocked our community, and bickering over gun rights or what was said by witnesses isn’t really the most pressing of issues. Prayers to the families of those who were killed, and also to the family of this man.
Why include the sad 911 recording on a community blog–particularly when victim’s children attend school in this neighborhood? Honestly. The “like” button on that recording box just sickens me. Why do we need to hear the 911 call. “Use discretion”? You use discretion. Journalism is not sensationalism. Ever had to call 911 while you watch someone die? I have. These should not be released to the general public. No reason for it–other than it feeds people’s sick need to be right up in the fucking train wreck like carrion.
I totally agree. What gets me even angrier is that when something happens to an idiot GED educated “celebrity” the 911 calls are rarely released to respect their privacy! Our values here are so freakin’ upside down.
ahem – seriously, this is what you take from this story? bad grammar? wow.
I agree. Please take the recording down. It was unbelievably crass, tasteless and insensitive to post it. This is real life and real suffering not a stupid cop show. Have some respect.
I’m here to do what I can to document what happened. I have done what I can to improve the presentation — I don’t have a solution to embed audio so am using a third party service. I’ve figured out a way to remove the “like” feature from the presentation. I am not removing the clip. It is my job — I believe — to document this incident no matter how unpleasant. In another outlet or in an another era, I might have taken a few details from the clip and transcribed them or provided an edited description of the recording. When I have documents and details that I have determined to the best of my abilities to be legitimate and that add information, background and facts to a story, I prefer to make those elements directly available to readers vs. summarizing, paraphrasing, filtering. The 911 recording is scary to listen to and has graphic details. It is also real and part of the information I have gathered to explain some of what happened that day.
It’s journalism, people. It’s about providing context, understanding and helping us be better-informed citizens. Sugar-coating and avoiding harsh realities like this 911 tape (which provides an excellent illustration of the stressful work dispatchers and first responders do) isn’t real journalism.
Something bad happened, look away look away! Grow up, it’s a part of the public record and needs to be there. I don’t want to hear it, so I didn’t click it, it’s a very simple solution.
Hey remember 9/11 when thousands of people died? Remember all those video/audio recordings? Yes it’s awful, but it needs to be in the public.
This just shows that we, as a city and society, have failed. We all should feel accountable for these sorts of things. The reason there aren’t enough services for the mentally ill? No revenue. The reason for the mentally ill being able to own firearms? A socially conservative and rural minority grip on cities.
Bottom line: A.) We need better funding and support for mental health services. B.) Handguns are not necessary – ever.
My heart goes out to the victims and their families, and as a resident, citizen, and a human I am sorry.
Professionally, I’m very glad SPD made these tapes available so quickly and I was glad to see this one posted here. I’m a 911 dispatcher and as part of my ongoing training, we always review tapes of “bad” calls… Give ourselves the opportunity to ask yourself how you’d handle a call like that, what you’d do different/the same, etc. I really wanted to listen to these tapes (and I’ll be keeping my eye out as they release more) because this is my city, my neighbors, that this horrific thing happened in and to. I don’t dispatch for Seattle, so I wanted to hear how we were helped by fire/pd and, selfishly, I wanted to hear the thing that can make the most painful part of my job amazing…
I regularly talk to strangers on what they will later come to think of the worst day of their life. And it is in those moments, during that fear and pain, that I get to hear people do amazing things – many times for total strangers: they find in themselves generosity, bravery, kindness, fearlessness, lucidity. And they act on it. They help other human beings to try and keep living.
Last Wednesday, countless people did these amazing things in the face of unbelievable horror. It makes me proud to live in a place where so many people thought of others before they considered themselves. It reminds me that we live wonderful city, filled with kind, generous people.
Yes these tapes, and others like them, are very hard for people to listen to. But if you do choose to listen, don’t forget to hear what’s amazing about them too.
These horrendous incidents will continue to occur until our politicians stand up to the gun lobby and enact legislation which completely bans handguns (as in the UK, I believe). I’m not at all optimistic that will occur.
In the meantime, there needs to be a more effective system to at least ban gun ownership by the mentally ill. How the hell was this nut-job approved for a concealed-weapons permit?
I agree it’s disgusting that the carjack/murder victim’s children will now be unable to avoid hearing the 911 tape since it has been posted online. Why? Because their teen cohorts will tweet, facebook and otherwise post it – and likely did so within minutes of finding it. It’s horrible enough that the children lost their mother but now they have to suffer their peer group listening to the tape which describes in graphic detail her horrific last moments. Crass. Unnecessary. Insensitive. Just because we can spread this all over the internet, that does not mean it’s anyone’s job to do so.
My daughter attends the neighborhood school that you are referring to
Be assured the kids are not posting about this on Facebook nor are they sharing the 911 tape. They are respectfully mourning and supporting each other
Why? So few people in America die violently. Why? It’s a numbers game. It has to happen. And it keeps a realistic sense of danger in an otherwise sterilized society. We need more violence, not less.