White Center Now: The blog about White Center

(Added: WCN/WSB photos by Torin Record-Sand)

10:02 AM: Thanks for the tip. Huge King County Sheriff’s Office response at White Center’s Evergreen High School. A KCSO spokesperson tells us, “We responded to reports of a person with a weapon at the school; it went on lockdown about 9 am. Three people have been detained and at least two weapons recovered. No injuries.” Radio exchanges indicate that deputies are continuing to search the school.

10:18 AM: Our photojournalist at the scene says K-9 teams are there too, but a few deputies have left the scene (radio traffic suggests those may be the ones whose normal duties would be for transit services). … Nothing’s visible from outside the school aside from at least 9 KCSO vehicles.

11:32 AM: We talked to KCSO spokesperson Brandyn Hull at the school. She says two of the three juveniles who were detained are being transported to juvenile detention, while the third was released. We’ll add her quick statement on video as soon as we upload it. (Update – here it is:)

11:55 AM: The school’s security status is easing, according to this message on Evergreen’s website:

Law enforcement has advised us it is safe to transition Evergreen from a Lockdown to a Hold.

The Hold action is used when the hallways in the school need to remain clear. Classroom learning still takes place as normal during a Hold, but students may not be able to change classes until after the Hold has been lifted.

Please do not come to the school or call the school or district office. Coming to campus distracts law enforcement and staff from keeping students safe. Stay where you are and remain available to receive updates and instructions.

All students and staff are following emergency procedures.

3:10 PM: The hold was subsequently lifted, and EHS says all after-school activities are canceled today.

King County Sheriff’s Deputies and Seattle Police are collaborating on an investigation after a robbery attempt at a smoke/vape shop led to a carjacking, with the victim driven to West Seattle. According to Seattle Police radio, this all started at the VIP Smoke & Vape Shop at 10261 16th Ave SW in White Center; two would-be robbers, reportedly armed with handguns, carjacked a victim described as the store’s owner, and drove them to the Lincoln Park area in West Seattle, then left in the stolen car, described as a 2017 dark gray Toyota Camry with Texas plates. The carjackers were described only as “two Hispanic men, 20s.” We’ll follow up with KCSO later this morning,

Thanks to Geoffrey for the photo. A crash left 16th/102nd closed for a while at midday today. We asked King County Sheriff’s Office whether that was because of, for example, the severity of injuries. A KCSO spokesperson replied:

This was an accident that did involve a deputy. Everyone involved was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The roadway is back open.

11:16 AM: Thanks to Kellie for the photo. That was the scene early this morning as King County Sheriff’s Office deputies investigated a double shooting. KCSO tells WCN:

At approximately 00:40 am today, KCSO deputies were dispatched to a shooting incident in White Center. The initial dispatch was related to a vehicle accident and/or road-rage allegation occurring in the 9800 block of 16th Ave SW. Deputies discovered two injured adult males at the scene and rendered emergency first aid while the area was secured. Local medics arrived, continued medical treatment, and transported the victims to local hospitals. Their current conditions are unknown although at least one wound appeared serious. KCSO deputies were able to identify and arrest the alleged shooter who remained at or near the scene.

4:35 PM: KCSO’s update confirms one shooting victim did not survive:

KCSO can confirm that one of the shooting victims died soon after arrival at Harborview Medical Center. The second shooting victim’s injuries are not life-threatening. The incident began when an alleged DUI driver crashed into a parked car along the 9800 block of 16th Ave SW in White Center. An altercation (leading to shots being fired) began when the parked vehicle’s owner confronted the seemingly DUI driver. An associate of the DUI driver is the shooting suspect. Detectives have booked the sole shooting suspect in to the King County Jail for investigation of Murder and Assault 1st Degree. The DUI driver was cited and released for a DUI offense. The KCSO Major Crimes Unit continues to investigate this open/active investigation.

We’ll be following up with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office tomorrow, when the suspect is likely to have an initial hearing.

King County Sheriff’s Office investigators say they have no suspects yet in a deadly shooting early today in Boulevard Park. KCSO says the call came in around 1:45 am regarding a shooting at Glen Acres Golf Course (1000 S. 112th). KCSO says:

The caller reported sounds of multiple gunshots and arguing.

One person was pronounced dead at the scene, another had gunshot wounds to his arm. A deputy used a tourniquet in an attempt to stop the bleeding; the victim was taken to Harborview. Our Major Crimes Unit is investigating.

If you have tips, call 911 and refer to KCSO case # C25020035.

Sent by the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, whose meeting is one of two community-involvement opportunities for you on Thursday (June 5):

The Opportunity to Be Informed, Be Involved and Be Heard!

June 5th Is Our Community’s Opportunity to Share Its Commitment to aSafe and Healthy Community at Two Important Events. The First Is:

COFFEE WITH A COP
From 11 am to 1 pm at the White Center Starbucks.

Join Local Members of the King County Sheriff’s Office, Share Your Thoughts,

Ask Your Questions and Meet Sheriff Patricia Cole-Tindall.

The Second is: NHUAC’s LAST MEETING BEFORE ITS SUMMER BREAK.

Because the King County’s Sheriff’s Office Is Such a Vital Part of Our Community,

NHUAC Has Issued a Standing Invitation to KCSO To Join NHUAC Meetings.

Where: North Highline Unincorporated Area Council (NHUAC) Meeting

North Highline Fire Station at 1243 SW 112th Street in White Center
(Parking and Entrance Are Behind the Station)

When: Thursday, June 5, 2025, at 7 pm

You are invited to attend NHUAC’s last meeting before our summer break on Thursday, June 5th at 7 pm at the fire station at 1243 SW 112th Street. We will be joined by Eric Thomas of Washington State’s Liquor and Cannabis Board. WSLCB’s mission is “public safety, public health, and trust through fair administration, education, and enforcement of liquor, cannabis, tobacco, and vapor laws.”

King Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda represents District 8, which includes North Highline. She will update us after nearly a year on the King County Council. Ms. Mosqueda has asked for community input and promised to promote policies that enhance the quality of life for all residents with a key focus on health, housing, and workforce development. She chairs two important committees, the King County Board of Health and the Health and Human Services Committee and is vice chair of the Committee of the Whole. We’ll ask her about the ways life, health, and safety in North Highline can be improved by her work and her goal of improving “…social determinants of health so a kiddo born anywhere in the county has the opportunity to grow up healthy and happy.” Have any suggestions? Join us and add your voice to this important conversation.

Knowledge Is Power.
Learn, share, and help make North Highline a healthier community.

Thursday, June 5 at 7 pm – Invite Your Neighbors!

The King County Sheriff’s Office just announced it’s reassigning some deputies in other unincorporated areas – and while the reassignments aren’t happening here, this area will be part of a change in “response protocol”:

In response to current and potentially sustained budget constraints, the King County Sheriff’s Office has made the difficult yet necessary decision to reduce minimum staffing at our North and Southeast precincts effective immediately. This includes the affected communities of Redmond Ridge, Fairwood, Fall City and other areas in unincorporated King County. As this is simply a redeployment of resources, no King County deputies are losing their jobs. This change will not affect police services in contract cities served by the King County Sheriff’s Office.

With this modified staffing, King County deputies in all three unincorporated precincts will only be dispatched to alarms verified by alarm companies or video/audio evidence. Additionally, our 911-dispatchers will refer all non-injury and non-blocking collisions or those on private property to the Washington State Patrol website: wsp.wa.gov/driver/collision-records. Deputies will still respond to collision associated with crimes such as hit and runs or impaired driving.

Any non-emergency 911 calls regarding a behavioral health crisis will be referred to the Sheriff’s Office Therapeutic Response Unit.

Residents of King County can report crimes such as abandoned vehicles, mail theft, vandalism and lost property here.

We are taking these critical steps to ensure King County deputies are safe and available for life-safety emergencies, which will always remain our top priority.

Here’s what the King County Sheriff’s Office tells us about an overnight incident that involved two locations in unincorporated North Highline:

– Around midnight, deputies responded to reports of a shooting in the 10000 block of 1st AVE S.
– Fire transported one victim to Harborview for medical treatment.
– Deputies report the incident began at the West Seattle Marijuana Store, where an unknown number of suspects attempted to break in.
-No suspects at this time.
-Case number: C25007631

(Despite its name, the WS Marijuana Store is located in Top Hat, at 10825 Myers Way S.) If you have any information, call 911 and refer to the case number noted above.

From the King County Sheriff’s Office:

Missing Child Alert. This 7-year old boy is autistic and was last seen about 1 pm in the White Center area of 4th avenue and S. 112th. He was wearing a black Pokémon t-shirt, shorts, and black shoes. If you see him, please call 911.

The report and photo are from the King County Sheriff’s Office:

More stellar police work (and K9 Quinn work) means more drugs taken off the streets.

On November 15th, our Special Emphasis Team served a narcotics search warrant on a drug trafficker known for selling fentanyl powder, fentanyl pills and heroin from White Center to Mount Vernon. After many months and 100-plus hours of surveillance our detectives and deputies seized:

• 5.12 pounds Fentanyl powder
• 13,620 Fentanyl M30 pills
• 1 pound of heroin
• More than $2000 in cash

They also booked a suspect on one count of investigation with intent to distribute and one count of conspiracy
Estimated street value of all these narcotics: $286,000

A reader reported 16th SW blocked near 107th this morning. We asked King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Deouty Mike Mellis what happened: “It looks like there is an ongoing investigation related to a fatal vehicle vs pedestrian accident in the area. Our Major Accident Response and Reconstruction Unit (MARR Unit) is investigating. I do not have any additional details for release at this time.”

2:37 PM: A 19-year-old woman is in the King County Jail this afternoon for investigation of homicide after another woman was found dead in a White Center apartment. Here’s what King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Deputy Mike Mellis tells us:

At 7:15pm on Friday, October 25th, 2024, the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) Communications Center received a 911 call regarding a possible homicide having just occurred.

The location was a small apartment building in the 9800 block of 15th Ave SW in the White Center area … Upon arrival, KCSO deputies contacted several individuals and located a deceased adult female inside one of the rooms of the residence. Another adult female was arrested at the scene. The KCSO Major Crimes Unit detectives were called to the scene to take over the investigation. The female suspect was booked into the King County Jail at approximately 1:30 am (this) morning. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the victim’s name, cause of death, and manner of death per their protocols. The King County Prosecutor’s Office will review the case reports and make a filing decision. This case remains an open and active investigation.

If you have any information, the KCSO case # is C24036038.

EVENING UPDATE: The suspect’s bail was set today at $2 million.

7:54 PM: We just got the court document from the bail hearing. Here’s the narrative, with some redactions:

(The suspect) is a tenant residing at the address of 9834 15 Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98106; a multitenant structure comprised of separate rooms rented out on a per room basis by the 73-year-old property owner… (suspect) has resided at this location, renting a room for approximately one year.

On 10/25/2024 at 7:15 pm the suspect’s brother-in-law … called the King County Sheriff’s Office Communication Center to report that (she) had told them she had killed someone and had shown (the victim’s) body in a video phone call. …
King County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the scene. Meanwhile, the King County Sheriff’s Communications Center called (the suspect, who) initially told the call receiver that said she did not do this and that it was all a joke and that she was “all the way in Everett” with ‘a friend’, denying that she had done anything. When she was then asked about the video call she made(, she) responded, “I killed her…not the friend…the one that I showed to my sister.”

The suspect subsequently told detectives that the dispute involved back rent she owned. The brother-in-law said the suspect had been threatening to kill her landlord since last month but they didn’t take her seriously.

Via a reader tip and Seattle Police regional bulletin, we learn that King County Sheriff’s Deputies are investigating an attack on a Metro bus driver. It happened in the past hour or so (after 9 am) at 15th/Roxbury. A reader says it was a northbound RapidRide H Line bus. The bulletin said the attacker broke a glass bottle over the driver’s head. They were described only as a Black man, tall, thin, in a black hoodie. If you have any information on the attack, call 911.

10:37 PM: A few people have asked why the Guardian One helicopter is over White Center right now. It’s been trying to help bring in a stolen vehicle, detected by a Lojack signal. In this case, the vehicle is occupied and on the move, refusing to stop, and it sounds like deputies don’t plan to pursue it further on the ground, though the helicopter still has eyes on it.

10:43 PM: The driver is reported to have ditched the car in Top Hat and bolted. A ground search is ensuing.

10:55 PM: The area where they’ve been searching is actually northeast White Center, 1st SW & SW 102nd. They’ve just taken someone into custody. The helicopter will be clearing the scene.

5:25 PM: According to an FYI bulletin just circulated on Seattle Police emergency radio, King County Sheriff’s Office deputies are investigating a shooting. One person is reported injured in the shooting at/near the Saar’s Super Saver Foods grocery store in the 10600 block of 16th SW. Deputies are said to be looking for a suspect described as a Hispanic man in his 20s, 5’7″, short brown hair, black clothing, with a backpack, carrying a black helmet. According to King County emergency radio, the victim is seriously injured with “multiple gunshot wounds.” (Added: Shot four times.) If you have any information, call 911.

5:47 PM: As shown in our photo, the scene appears to be at the car wash north of the store – at least, that’s where the victim was loaded into a medic unit; they’re now on the way to Harborview Medical Center. A possible suspect was found blocks away but we haven’t heard yet whether they’ve been arrested.

We’ll add anything more we find out.

6:31 PM: KCSO says they did take that suspect into custody – no other details, though, regarding the circumstances, the victim, or the suspect.

We wrote about this initially on our partner site West Seattle Blog because the Guardian One helicopter started its west-side visit over West Seattle, but are making a note here too because of what it then did over White Center: The helicopter crew picked up a Lojack signal around 11 pm Friday, indicating a stolen Jeep Wrangler was somewhere on the ground in north WC. They found it near Holy Family, and circled while deputies approached on the ground. They determined the car was empty, and the helicopter moved on

5:22 PM: Lots of questions earlier about the Guardian One helicopter over White Center/south West Seattle. Most of the ground response was gone by the time we were able to get to WC but archived King County Sheriff’s Office dispatch audio indicates Taboo Video on 16th south of 98th was robbed. Two robbers were described – descriptions broadcast over the air were partial, a Black man about 30, black clothing except for some “bluish” pants, and a white woman about 25, also in black clothing, with unspecified tattoos. They were reported to have escaped with some merchandise but no cash.

7 PM: A little more info from KCSO – the robbers did have a weapon, believed to be a Taser, but apparently did not use it, as investigators report no one was hurt. If you have any inforation, the case # is C24034078.

King County Sheriff’s Office detectives continue investigating last Friday’s holdup at the Domino’s Pizza location at 17th/Roxbury. We received two video clips, showing the robbers arriving and leaving, from a reader whose dashcam recorded this video while they were visiting a neighboring business at the time. It happened around 1:30 pm Friday (October 4). The three robbers are shown arriving and leaving in the blue Hyundai; the passerby also seen in the video was not involved.

KCSO says deputies responded but the robbers had already fled. If you have any information on the holdup, please contact KCSO.

According to a bulletin shared on Seattle Police radio, King County Sheriff’s Deputies are investigating a carjacking attempt tonight at 15th/Roxbury. We don’t know the exact time, but in the 9 pm-10 pm vicinity. Circumstances weren’t described but the suspect, who was reported to be armed, left on a “blue motorcycle.” He was reportedly possibly seen at the Coronado Springs apartment complex afterward, but gone by the time KCSO deputies arrived.

Though the state restrictions on police pursuits in 2021 didn’t change the number of pursuits in which the King County Sheriff’s Office engaged, it did have a dramatic effect on whether suspects stopped. That’s one of the stats in this KCSO announcement that its pursuit policy will change starting tomorrow:

The King County Sheriff’s Office has updated its Pursuit of Motor Vehicles policy. The Washington Legislature’s revision of law enforcement vehicle pursuit laws earlier this year prompted this change.

In June of 2024, Initiative 2113 lifted certain restrictions on vehicle pursuits, restoring the authority to pursue a fleeing suspect when there is reasonable suspicion the suspect has violated the law, but retaining many of the risk reduction requirements found in the previous legislation. This impelled the Sheriff’s Office to evaluate modifications to its policy.

Effective August 1, the revised policy continues to restrict vehicle pursuits to dangerous felonies and DUI, while modifying the definition of dangerous felony to include burglary. The policy also allows pursuits for felony crimes, and non-felony crimes against a person, under extraordinary circumstances where there is an imminent and ongoing threat to persons or the community at large.

The most important factor when deciding whether to engage in a pursuit remains the risk to the community. Deputies are required to continually weigh the danger of failing to apprehend a suspect against the danger to the community created by the pursuit.

“I have confidence in the good judgement of our deputies when weighing the dangers of a chase against the potential threat to the people of King County,” said Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall. “We have given these adjustments careful consideration. We understand the vital importance of striking a balance between holding people accountable for their actions and the well-being of the community.”

The more restrictive law, passed in 2021, only allowed law enforcement to chase suspects involved in a narrowly defined set of serious, violent crimes and required probable cause (a higher legal standard than reasonable suspicion) to chase.

Between 2018-2021, the King County Sheriff’s Office averaged just over 15 pursuits per quarter, compared to 14 per quarter from 2021-2023, after the more restrictive legislation went into effect.

In contrast, prior to the 2021 legislation, 41 suspects refused to stop for deputies every quarter, while 138 refused to stop after the 2021 pursuit legislation.

Additionally, the number of pursuits that resulted in injuries stayed static and vehicles damaged went down only slightly from almost 4 a year to 3 respectively.

The new policy lays out what factors deputies should consider when initiating a vehicle chase including communication protocol, supervisor responsibilities, when to terminate a chase, and training.

“KCSO’s vehicular pursuit policy has historically been more restrictive than the state law and that’s worked well for us,” said Undersheriff Jesse Anderson. “It was important for us to listen to community members asking us to go after dangerous criminals putting people at risk. That really helped drive our decision.”

The new policy covers all unincorporated King County, as well as the 12 cities that contract with the Sheriff’s Office.

The updated King County Sheriff’s Office Pursuit of Motor Vehicles Policy will be available in the public General Orders Manual here on August 1.