(Image: @BrianWestbrook)
The reported armed standoff that locked down Capitol Hill’s busy Broadway Market shopping center Wednesday night stemmed from a dispute between a gym patron and a man who reportedly wanted to use the restroom at Pacific Northwest Fitness, according to court documents.
According to the police report included in documents filed in the case, the standoff played out between the police and SWAT officers and the two men who refused to budge even after the gun was dropped to the ground between them. The gun, it turns out, also was not loaded.
CHS reported here on Wednesday’s lockdown of the area and arrest of the gun-wielding man, a 42-year-old Broadway resident, according to police.
In documents filed by the county prosecutor, police say an employee at the business told them the dispute began when a man approached the front desk to use the restroom and was told it was for customers only. The man then reportedly became entangled with the gym patron who had been sitting on a bench near the entrance. A fight ensued with the patron pointing his handgun and chasing the man before holding him at gunpoint on the floor as word spread through the busy shopping center and its QFC grocery store as police arrived.
UPDATE: We’ve added the SPD report’s description of the employee’s account to help clarify the events that led to the dispute. We have redacted all names from the account and identified each speaker as witness (employee), victim (man who reportedly asked about the restroom), and suspect (man who brandished the firearm). You can click to enlarge the image.
According to SPD’s report, an officer “acting as a hostage negotiator” convinced the armed man to drop his weapon and place his hands behind his head as the scene played out on the second floor of the center outside the gym. The gun was placed on the floor between the gunman and the man still lying on the ground.
But police had a new problem as the standoff renewed when neither man would comply with commands to move toward officers out of fear the other man would grab the pistol.
“Both refused to move as they stated they did not want to leave the other one near the firearm,” the police report reads.
Police say SWAT took control of the scene and “approached” the two men. According to witnesses, a flash bang was deployed setting off alarms throughout the building, and the suspect was taken into custody.
The victim was not seriously injured and the suspect required treatment at the scene by Seattle Fire for minor injuries suffered in the incident.
Seattle Police says the handgun was recovered and found to be unloaded. Officers also recovered the suspect’s bag where they found an empty magazine.
The suspect was booked into King County Jail for investigation of assault and unlawful imprisonment. King County prosecutors argued for $100,000 bail but the suspect was released on personal recognizance as the office weighs possible charges.
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What is going on with this city? We pass law after law to address a very real gun crisis we have, and here we have a criminal with a gun and we let him out without even setting bail?
As IF the way things ARE being done are working. “EMPTY gun”. Did you see that?
Any information on the entanglement part? Seems kind of important in the greater narrative here.
Accounts varied. One witness reported the guy asking about the restroom approached the suspect on the bench and tried to shake his hand but was rejected. Punches followed.
So the guy with the gun was the one sitting on the bench and not the one who asked to use the restroom?
So it was the gym member popping a gun on bathroom asking man. I guess his membership will be cancelled. What a dope.
You think it’s that easy to get a gym membership canceled?
So wait, it was the gym patron who had the gun, holding the random guy “hostage”? And he was afraid to move away from the gun even though it was unloaded? This story gets stranger each time more details emerge.
no
This story is incorrect. I am a member of the gym that was there when it happened. None of those guys were members of the gym nor asked for the bathroom. They started arguing in front of the front desk area, outside the gym. They knew each other from before and it seems they had some conflict. Even if I was there I just checked with the manager of the gym to see if I was missing anything. Confirmed that none of those guys have anything to do with the gym.
I’ve included the portion of the SPD report that includes the employee’s account of what led to the dispute.
I think there may be some crossed wires here. A friend of mine stopped by the gym today, and the front desk person said neither of the men were gym members. There are some benches in the gallery outside the gym, and occasionally random people come upstairs and sit there, especially when it’s very hot or cold outside. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was just two randos getting into it.
I was at the self checkout downstairs at the time, and it looked like the scuffle started outside the gym before moving inside (though admittedly, I’ve seen enough fights in that QFC that I was just trying to tune it out and keep my head down).
I’ve included the portion of the SPD report that includes the employee’s account of what led to the dispute.
As a member of the gym, I was concerned when I read this story. I checked with the manager of the gym and he stated that those 2 men were not members of the gym and the dispute didn´t start over the bathroom policy. They were two random guy arguing in front of the gym entrance.
I’ve included the portion of the SPD report that includes the employee’s account of what led to the dispute.
How does this result in a gun wielding man being released? Did he know the gun was not loaded? A whole crowded neighborhood was on lockdown. The judge gives no crap about us in this. Apparently a guy willing to pull a gun over a bathroom dispute was let go free because of … who knows anymore.
I see people are really concerned about the reputation of their gym…
So what is the judge’s name and when are they up for reelection?
I understand the prosecutors wanted 100K bail but the judge released the guy on his own recognizance. Does anyone know if this is true, and, if so. the name of the judge?