UPDATE: 2 shot, 1 killed, in downtown White Center

1:20 AM: From the scanner: Two people have been shot in the 9800 block of 16th SW. One is reported to have been killed. No word of any arrests so far – we’ve heard talk of a chaotic scene and a possible getaway car. More to come.

2:22 AM: Sheriff’s deputies have 16th SW taped off from 98th to just short of 100th. They’re focused in the same area as last May’s deadly shooting. No one at the scene is commenting so far, though.

3:02 AM: Via Twitter, KCSO confirms that “one male” is dead and “another” is in critical condition.

7:18 AM: More info from KCSO early this morning: The man who was killed was 51; the other man, who was in surgery as of a few hours ago, is 35. KCSO says they were shot outside the Taradise Café. “Detectives believe that the two victims knew each other and that they got into some kind of verbal and physical altercation with an unknown age, race, or build male just before the shooting.” KCSO says few witnesses remained on the scene by the time deputies/detectives arrived.


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48 Responses to “UPDATE: 2 shot, 1 killed, in downtown White Center”

  1. Thanks for the info. Heard lots of sirens heading for downtown white center.

  2. Dani Barstow Says:

    Is this related to the police near 17th and Barton? We see lights but don’t hear sirens…

  3. That’s a different shooting (no known link so far). We are covering that on WSB since it’s in West Seattle.
    http://westseattleblog.com/2018/01/shooting-reported-in-south-delridge/

  4. Daniel Engelhart Says:

    Was this fatal shooting at the Taradise Bar??

  5. Yes, the 51 year old passed away.

  6. Business owners in that area should petition to have that bar removed immediately. There has been issues with it from the get go.

  7. Daniel refers to the location as a bar and another news outlet refers to it as Club Taradise. Maybe if it was truly a cafe as its name suggests, it would serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner and then be closed before the trouble makers come out.

  8. Alki Resident Says:

    It’s Taradise Cafe and it serves all three meals. It also has a bar . Tara worked years to own her own establishment. Are you saying every establishment should close before trouble starts? What time would that be because I see problems at all times of the day and so do police, in West Seattle and White Center?

  9. Thank you. Owning her own restaurant and bar has always been her dream. She also spends her Thanksgiving and Christmas days Serving the White Center community by preparing and handing out free meals to those who don’t have family and the homeless. She can’t control the actions of others or those who live on the streets of White Center. she continues to make changes to make her bar a safe and fun place. The motto of her bar is “nothing but love”. So people please don’t pass judgement without all the facts!!

  10. Lia Whitaker Says:

    I had a nice breakfast at Taradise,
    Rabble-rousing trouble-maker that I am, all crazy and violent with my toast and soft eggs.

  11. Idiot. It does serve a great breakfast and lunch. Havent had theirvdinner. Its a great place. Evenings are a hoot. Ter tries her best to be inclussive but safe. I hope she continues to work it. Btw there was also a fatal multi shooting in belltown same night plus the highland park thing. Dont zero in on TD

  12. Marianne, the name error was likely by a news outlet that is not from this area – KCSO had it wrong in its initial tweet and its news release (which I cut and pasted verbatim in a comment above); we didn’t repeat the error because we live and work in this general area and we knew it was an error. Please take out-of-area news outlets with the proverbial grain of salt. They get neighborhood and business names wrong *a lot*. (We covered a crime in West Seattle’s Puget Ridge area the other day; it was picked up by regional outlets because SPD put it on its “blotter,” and hours later we heard an anchor refer to the area in a short version of the story as “Phinney Ridge.”)

  13. How long did it take for police to arrive? What does the following quoted statement mean? “KCSO says few witnesses remained on the scene by the time deputies/detectives arrived.”

  14. That is exactly what KCSO said. I interpreted it as, people scattered pretty fast. It was described as a “chaotic scene” initially, and deputies were giving orders to do their best to keep people there until they could interview possible witnesses. The “minutes” is from the KCSO news release – since we had already been covering it for hours when it was sent to us and other media by Sgt. Jason Houck after 5 am, I didn’t publish the news release verbatim, but here it is for anyone interested:

    Shortly after 1am on January 6th, 2018, King County Sheriff 911 received multiple calls and reports of a shooting outside Club Taradise in the 9800 blk of 16th Ave SW. Callers reported hearing multiple shots and seeing two men lying in the parking lot of the club.

    Deputies arrived within minutes and found a 51yoa male, unresponsive, with gunshot wounds to his upper torso and head area. That man was pronounced dead at the scene.

    The second victim was found in the same parking lot and also had gunshot wounds to his upper torso area. Medics arrived shortly after Deputies and were able to get the 2nd victim stable enough to be transported to Harborview Hospital where he was rushed to surgery.

    At this point, the few witnesses that remained on scene when Deputies and Major Crimes Detectives arrived are cooperating, but little is known about the suspect or the events that led up to the shooting.

    Detectives believe that the two victims knew each other and that they got into some sort of verbal and physical altercation with an unknown age, race, or build male just prior to the shooting. Their investigation will be ongoing.

    It is unknown at this time if a shooting that occurred around 3:30 AM, just North in Seattle is related to this shooting. Detectives from KCSO will look into that as part of their investigation.

  15. “Deputies arrived within minutes….”

    http://www.kiro7.com/news/local/1-killed1-injured-in-white-center-shooting/677963937

    I had lunch at Taradise about a week ago. The food and service were good and people were friendly.

    Please wait for the facts before assigning blame to a neighborhood business.

  16. Good one Liz. We need to support

  17. We were there long before any other media FWIW – heard the call on the scanner but it wasn’t immediately clear, until the address was repeated, that it was in White Center, or we would have been there even sooner.

  18. They should close down taradise. Too much trouble stems from there.

  19. Taradise Cafe AGAIN?!?!

  20. Diana Rivera Says:

    I’ve heard so much about these shootings and fights at this place. It’s hard not to wonder. I’m sure it’s being run by decent people, but there is definitely a problem there.Find out what it is and fix it!

  21. We’ve had nice meals at Taradise. And I’ve watched a few games there too. Always good service and a friendly crowd. I’m saddened by what has happened outside their business, but I will continue to go there.

  22. What about the smoke shop across the street? There are always cars pulled to the side blocking the street and parking waiting as people run in and out. Why is that ok with the sheriff? It’s constant and annoying to both walk and drive by. Obviously something is going on there.

  23. I love Taradise. I’ve been there late when it gets a little sketch. Condemn them? Nah. Great food. Great service. Yummy Appetizers. If you’re worried about it life don’t frequent this establishment after a certain time. I don’t. You’re kicking it in White Center. Gentrification growing pains is all, sad but true.

  24. Sarah, Could not agree with you more. You have to be a blind man not to see whats happening at that smoke shop. And with the nay sayers on here there was a stabing of a young mother in Admiral should we shut down the Admerial area. There several shootings at Alki every summer should we close Alki during the summer.Bad people do bad things and they don.t care where they do it. Go Tara

  25. I have had great experiances there and have seen clear over serving of alcohol, intoxicated “security staff” and intoxicated bartenders in the later hours. She should close at 11pm or possible 12:30 on weekends to keep these late night down.No amount of money you might make from 11-2 is worth the media coverage of two murders outside your bar. How long until they don’t take it outside first? You can be a great person and poorly run late-night crowds. those things are not mutually exclusive.

  26. Local person Says:

    I think if they haven’t yet. The owner should look into hiring some off duty police for security at night.

    Start 86ing the trouble makers use the state’s tresspassing laws to keep them out.

    Make the restaurant a no firearms allowed location other than police of course

  27. Maybe there needs to be more of a sheriff’s presence later at night. Like the Seattle police used to do up in the junction. Walking through bars later in the evening. Tara is a good person just trying to run her business. She has put different things in place to keep the rift raft out of her bar. It is to bad people need resort to using weapons to settle disagreements.

  28. C’mon people… it is Rat City… standards need to be appropriately LOW for such a terrible place.

    This witch hunt mentality would have probably thrown-out Marv’s Broiler decades before its demise.

    When all you can offer as a nearby community are porn shops, tacky bars and pho noodle houses, then of course you are going to rate only the scurge of Rat City.

    Tara herself is a nice lady, and a one time mainstay of the former Charlestown Cafe on California Avenue. There is nothing wrong with her as an individual.

  29. rob – A specific place of business that draws these types of crowds is the issue. There have been numerous shootings and numerous fatalities because of those shootings at Taradise. Why do we not hear this happening at Beer Star or Noble Barton? It is because something is going on at Taradise and it is drawing specific type of crowd. I don’t know Tara but if she does not radically change her establishment, then it needs to be shut down to not affect the other businesses that are being run in the area. And I am also for investigating the smoke shop as well. It comes to greed, the owner of the building is leasing out the place knowing what is happening as I am sure he has received several complaints. Instead of not renewing the lease, he/she will because they are paying the lease and it’s money for all they care.

  30. RIP Paul, u were a great person

  31. Concerned citizen Says:

    It’s not just happening at Taradise, that same night there was a shooting on 17th and two days ago there was a car jacking at Super Savers . It’s a community safety issue. Bring a full-time police hub back to the area, petition the police to show more of a presence and to look into suspicious activity. Most of the business owners are trying to clean the area up, but the police need to show they are a present and will enforce the law. Everyone should have the right to go to the store, a restaurant or the bar and not worry about physical harm. Remember that next time when we are asked to vote on spending more money on public safety . Closing down businesses isn’t the answer. Enforcing our laws is. Look at all the crap that goes on in front of Walgreen’s and Bartells. If we see it everyday why aren’t the police addressing the drug use , open containers and loitering? They do it because they are allowed to and aren’t confronted by law enforcement.

  32. Hey bob you sound like a raceist with your coments there are shootings every sommer on alki. acording to your view alki draws in a bad segment so alki should be shut down. Bell town draws a bad segment so shut down bell twon bars. Downtown west seattlle hasre share of violance and shootings so we should shut it down. Taradise does the best they can to vieod this violance. But how do you stop bad people from doing bad things at your place? With out profiling it can,t be done. So as to your statment how do you know theres a bad element with out profiling. And as we know to profile in seattle your are a racist

  33. It’s just Papa’s Place all over again.

  34. How am I a racist? You brought race into it. Install a metal detector at the door and have a bouncer. If they have a gun they can’t come in. Hire armed security to have a presence. Close at midnight like the other places. These are ideas off the top of my head. Ive never been to Taradise or seen the type of people who hang there. It’s not one bar in Alki causing problems. Show me articles where there were multiple shootings and fatalities at the same bar at Alki? Also you can’t compare Belltown and White Center. Belltown has a much higher concentration of people in the area and bars versus white center. It’s comparing a horse to an apple.

  35. Guilt by Assosiation Says:

    Tara may be a good hearted and a hard working person but what it boils down to is she doesn’t seem to realize you can’t mix business with pleasure.And needs to understand that life is not one huge never ending party that just continues from one day to the next.Your a business owner now in a community that strives for perfection none the less.West Seattle has never been a community that turns a blind eye pretending these unfortunate events never happened.If T really expects her business venture and investment to succeed she has got to clean it up by stepping up her game and filtering out the bad seeds.She has been in the West long enough to know who is trouble and who isn’t.Maybe creating some structure with a venue that would attract a more relaxed environment like jazz on thurs. rythem and blues on fri. Crazy 80’s on Sat and poker night on Sun. Hire a few dealers set out card tables change the pace.Cause at this rate it’s only a matter of time before the liquor board starts restricting your license.Eventually pulling it.I have been in this industry long enough to know that Two murders outside your establishment is pretty much where they draw the line closing your doors for good.You worked to hard and got this far it would be a huge disappointment to see you fail.

  36. hey bob, neither shooting people are connecting to taradise took place inside the establishment, so keeping guns outside wouldn’t solve the particular problem we are facing, which is guns being used to settle altercations that start on the street.

  37. Or in the bathroom of Taradise

  38. Has anyone asked for violent crime data in White Center and had it normalized by population? It would seem like a good way to leverage additional resources in the area.

  39. ak – those people where there because of Taradise and were drinking there. “Guilt By Association” echoes the sentiment I shared. While I am sure good people come here, this place attracts the bad seeds. Again, I point at other neighboring bars and I don’t see fatal shootings outside their bars from their patrons.

    I’ve been to Snohomish on Fri/Sat night and it is kind of like White Center in the sense that their “down town” is a single road with a few bars on it. However, they have a few police posted outside their “ruckus” bar and they walk around keeping the order. White Center needs this.

  40. I’m a 50YO business owner and my wife is a 55YO elementary school teacher and there is no other place in White Center that we would go to. Taradise is the ONLY truly inclusive bar in the area. They don’t care if you’re straight, gay, black, white, can’t speak a word of English, ghetto or a Trump supporter. At no time have we ever felt unsafe inside. Outside is a different story…troublemakers are just outside causing trouble…there is a smokeshop/crackhouse across the street. There is major drug dealing and prostitution a block away and not a cop to be found. You can’t blame Taradise for neighborhood problems that have existed for the 18 years that I’ve been in the area. The REAL problem is the complete lack of law enforcement in the area…if there was a police presence in the area, these issues would disappear overnight.

  41. Bob, you just chided someone for comparing an apple to a horse, and you are guilty of same when trying to compare “Snohomish” to “White Center”.

    White Center is an armpit, and it will always be an armpit (albeit one with no soda tax at present). Maybe Rat City should enact a soda tax immediately and with it hire one constable to roam the debauched streets of Rat City while keeping the peace.

    Even the New York Times weighed in on Rat City:

    “White Center… has attracted a soulful blend of entrepreneurs, striking an elusive balance between gritty and friendly. It has an uncommonly diverse mix of residents and restaurants and a staggering number of pinball machines per capita. Some of its adult-oriented businesses — pornography, poker and marijuana — speak to its rough-and-tumble roots, flourishing there because of the tight restrictions of its more affluent neighbor to the north.”

    Now that was a professional writer attempting to polish (the unpolishable) but that person clearly gained a strong awareness of what Rat City is and will always be.

    And Bob, in case you’ve been in a vacuum these last many years, THE LAW already says: “if you are in immediate possession of a gun, you can’t come in” (to a bar).

    Once Tara’s customers exit her bar, and return to their vehicles to retrieve their guns, it’s outside of Tara’s realm of responsibility. (If she sends them out too drunk to drive, and they do, then it is her responsibility, because she {or her employees} had something directly to do with their condition.)

    When you polish the rest of the dives in Rat City, and Taradise becomes the weakest link, only then can you sensibly insist that Taradise improve its standing so as to fit-in. As for now, 30 or 75 dives deserve another.

    As a stand-alone location, Taradise is already an immediate improvement over Marv’s Broiler, for at least somebody might dare to walk into Taradise.

  42. I did not do a full comparison. I just compared what was relevant: one main street and several small streets, the layout. Meaning all the bar action is contained on one street. The former was comparing data without the proper statistical analysis and weight, there is a difference. Michele also echoed the idea.

    Just because a city has a had a past in being “rough” and “gritty” does not mean it can not evolve and grow into something else. Should we just say, “Another fatal shooting, oh that silly WC will always be WC!”? Maybe WC is an armpit and will always be one, you could be right, but there is nothing wrong with trying to come up with solutions to solve these problems.

    If you’ve lived in/near WC for the past 10 plus years and are accustomed and like the old vibe or fit into the “rough” and “gritty” I can see how you don’t want change. However, times are changing, people are moving to this area that are young families/young professionals and are concerned about safety and want change.

    “And Bob, in case you’ve been in a vacuum these last many years, THE LAW already says: “if you are in immediate possession of a gun, you can’t come in” (to a bar).” The law also says you cannot murder…these people who commit these crimes do not abide by the law, so it has to be enforced by other means (metal detector, pat down at door like they do at other places in Seattle, do not stay open to 2am, etc.)

    “Once Tara’s customers exit her bar, and return to their vehicles to retrieve their guns, it’s outside of Tara’s realm of responsibility. (If she sends them out too drunk to drive, and they do, then it is her responsibility, because she {or her employees} had something directly to do with their condition.)” Agreed about the drunk driving BUT her bar is ATTRACTS a certain type of crowd, there is no denying. Large portion of the crowd just hangs out in the parking lot of Taradise, so it is still on her property. Second, nobody has commented or provided a rebuttal regarding why is this not happening for Beer Star patrons, Noble Barton partons, etc. Because going back to the point, her bar attracts a certain type of crowd. Not all bad people, but diff bad seeds. Two fatal shootings outside your bar within a year in such a small area..that isn’t by chance.

    I just did a Google search of other bars in WC that are open to 2am, there are only a few and only one had multiple shootings tied to their bar. Do the research.

    Glad it is an improvement over Marv’s but it still has more room for improvement.

  43. Bob, exactly NO ONE in his/her right mind claims to be ‘concerned about safety’ AND chooses White Center as a place to live… or even visit.

    Time has demonstrated year in and year out for decades that the only people who “want change” in White Center are standing outside of a Pho noodle shop with a cardboard sign.

    It’s WHITE CENTER!

    (the rest is ‘given’)

  44. City Rat, you are absolutely wrong about people not wanting change in White Center. That’s ridiculous. I’ve lived nearby for 12 years, and it has been slow to evolve until just the last couple years. It’s changing, and it’s changing fast. And people like that.

    Saying you just have to live with it since it’s white center sounds childish and close-minded.

    White Center definitely doesn’t need City Rat as a spokesperson.

  45. Guilt by association Says:

    Where is the press when it comes to the updates? Let’s not forget the real issue at that a man who has yet to snatch his 15 minutes of fame by way of story follow ups that would identify at least the deceased victim and maybe allow the public to understand that pointing fingers at certain individuals or groups is A common flaw us humans tend to posses.Although accountability is a strong suit that fewer people these days can comfortably wear Accepting responsibility seems to be a thing of the past.Pointing fingers hot topic issues to debate or sincere concern for your community yet not one comment here displayed any concern for your now deceased neighbor who he was his family who’s lives are now forever changed or even an update on the arrest in the matter which was quite the scene last Monday in the top hat area that had brought in a huge response from all neighboring police dept.king tukwilla seattle even metro swat homicide k9 gang and task force atf and dea all present barricading 4th ave between 107th and 116th off for a matter of a couple hours preventing people to even come home to the comforts of their own residence and not one press affiliate in the region picked up on these turn of events.While everyone is caught up In debating wether cause or company people keep the one who actually pulled the trigger was detained hence continuos follow ups maybe concluding finally with reasons for why and how this matter came to be.Letting in more understanding cause until the actual facts are available to disclose all you whom consider yourselves as concerned citizens or community activist trying to advise we all myself included realistically are just adding more undue grief pain and more problems for those who are more than just the community in this matter they Are truly invested financially or hold personal interest through relation they are the living victims along with the 35 y/o survivor whose lives that are really affected.#lovethyneighboraswellasthyhood#

  46. Hi. I can’t speak for other media but it’s been rather difficult to get information on this. We checked in with the King County Sheriff’s Office daily for three days before we finally got a response, which was that there was nothing new. The Medical Examiner’s Office never provided the first victim’s name in their regular updates, which we check daily. Anyway, a TV station reports tonight that the second victim in last weekend’s shooting has died. I won’t be able to confirm that until Tuesday. But here’s their report, which includes a GoFundMe account for the man who died at the scene, if you would like to help: http://www.kiro7.com/news/local/two-men-killed-in-white-center-shooting/683745714

    P.S. As for the Top Hat incident, we were told that they were staked out looking for someone but did not find him/her. We didn’t hear about it until we saw Metro bulletins that buses were being routed off 4th, with no obvious explanation, so we went out to look; KCSO at the scene wouldn’t comment and the media relations officer said information wouldn’t be available until afterward. We didn’t get a response for two days.

  47. I am pretty sure the investigation is ongoing. Its not going to be a fast arrest, it will take time. The police will want to get this right. You have to take into consideration this happened at a bar, there were intoxicated witnesses and most people scattered and only a few stayed to give a voice to the victims. And to be honest Guilt by association I am having a hard time understanding what you are even trying to say.

  48. LW,

    I already stated clearly that the aforementioned people “want change” in White Center. You need only walk three blocks in a straight line in White Center to identify them. (they’ll approach you, so you don’t have to wonder which ones they are)

    Of course you’re going to stand-out as someone in White Center who CAN walk 3 blocks in a straight line.

    White Center is not “changing fast”. If one supplied you with a map of White Center circa 1970 you would laugh, and then cry at how very similar it is. (Having clear glass windows on “The Epicure” doesn’t make for much change)

    Astroland may be gone, and yes, there may be a new library, but central White Center is the same as it has always been.

    Debate could rage forever as to whether Marv’s Broiler or Taradise is/was more reputable, but so far it seems a toss-up.