By
Casey Smith
April 17, 2009
West campus residence halls and buildings at the UW were put on lockdown Friday night from approximately 9-10:30 p.m. while the Seattle Police Department (SPD) and UWPD searched for a shooting suspect believed to be in the area.
The shooting occurred just before 9 p.m. near the intersection of Northeast 42nd Street and University Way Northeast.
Daily reporter Michael Truong was eating at Malabar Indian Cuisine near the intersection of Northeast 42nd Street and the Ave when he heard a gunshot. About a minute later, Truong saw a male who he described to be in his early- to mid-30s cross onto the north side of Northeast 42nd Street from an alley between 15th Avenue Northeast and the Ave. The individual was spitting blood from his mouth.
“That’s when I responded,” Truong said. “I immediately ran out.”
As Truong rushed to the victim, he noted that the individual appeared to be losing a large amount of blood from his mouth, but Truong couldn’t see an exit wound. The SPD later confirmed that the victim had been shot in the jaw.
“[The victim] was conscious, was able to respond and think coherently,” Truong said.
Truong immediately asked the victim if he knew who the shooter was, but the victim did not. The SPD later confirmed that the shooter was a black male, possibly adult who fled southbound.
“I stayed down because we didn’t know where the shooter was,” Truong said.
Truong, a U.S. Army veteran who was deployed to Iraq from 2005-2006 is combat life-saver certified and recognized that the victim was going into shock.
“First priority was to limit the loss of blood,” Truong said.
Truong instructed the victim to lean against the wall in order to calm him down and limit loss of blood. Within minutes, police arrived.
The victim kept asking where he had been shot, saying that he couldn’t see, and that his face was numb.
Police and ambulances responded within minutes, but Truong said the victim passed out shortly before they arrived.
“He passed out and we caught him,” Truong said. “He started to choke on blood so we put his head on his side.”
At that point, paramedics took over. The victim was then taken to Harborview Medical Center.
Resident advisors in Lander Hall were told by the resident director on duty just after 9 p.m. that an emergency situation was occurring and that the dorms were being locked down.
At approximately 10:30 p.m., UWPD Police Chief John Vinson said west campus was cleared to reopen as the SPD concluded its initial search. Follow up investigations are now taking place.
Look for follow up articles in Monday's print version of The Daily.
Reach news editor Casey Smith at news@dailyuw.com.
17 Comments
#1 Anna F.
on April 18, 2009 at 12:03 a.m.(UW Campus | UW Community)
Where was the UW Alert system during this? The times when we really need immediate alerts from the UW police, we get nothing. Epic fail, UW.
#2 rjferreiro
on April 18, 2009 at 12:04 a.m.(Seattle, WA | UW Community)
Good reporting Casey. And good response, Michael.
#3 Brian B.
on April 18, 2009 at 12:25 a.m.(UW Campus | UW Community)
@ Anna:
The UW Alert system is for snow days and lost kittens, not dangerous things like guns.
#4 Anthony C.
on April 18, 2009 at 12:53 a.m.(Seattle, WA | UW Community)
there should be some form of texting service as well. did that work? i don't get texts anymore so...
also, what is the purpose of an "alert system" if it can't help report emergencies like this one?
#5 Mingxiang W.
on April 18, 2009 at 1:45 a.m.(Seattle, WA | UW Community)
The UW hasnt sent out the email to warm students about this either... what if it was a shooter on campus how are students suppose to know? do we even have an alert system? This is getting crazy, just last year everyone thought they would be safe if you were below 47th street, but now crimes are happening on 41st and 42nd street into the core where students live.
#6 Jen A.
on April 18, 2009 at 1:56 a.m.(Seattle, WA | UW Community)
Hey rjferreiro! That's a total cop-out because you work for The Daily!
Also do a better job at being features editor.
#7 platta
on April 18, 2009 at 11:11 a.m.(UW Campus | UW Community)
Incredibly disturbing. I live in Steven's Court on the SW edge of campus. I attended the Mariner's game last night which ended at about 10 pm. The shooting occurred at 9, and West campus was locked down for the next 1.5 hours. Had I elected to take the bus back to my dorm immediately after the game, I would have been baffled to find a SWAT team searching the area around my building for the fleeing suspect, as I was never informed by the UW that this crime had taken place. This is just the latest of many safety concerns in this dump of a neighborhood. The UW needs to look out for their students if they expect to retain current students and welcome new ones in the coming years. Step up the security presence and protect your students, UW. My friends and I are tired of feeling unsafe, not just late at night, but at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
#8 kellyel
on April 18, 2009 at 11:33 a.m.(UW Campus | UW Community)
I agree with platta on both counts. I did take the bus back from the mariners game right after the game ended, and I also live in Stevens Court. We got an email from our CAs at about 9:50, right as we were getting on the bus; fortunately my boyfriend can check his email on his iphone, since most students would have to be in their rooms at their computers anyway to get an email. Why were Stevens Court residents, a block south of the locked down dorm, not notified for over an hour? I also agree that I'm sick of feeling this unsafe in the U-District in the middle of the day. I mean, no one ever thought the Ave was a haven of fluffy bunnies or anything, but lately even students who are cautious are in danger just by waiting at a bus stop in the middle of a weekday.
#9 Chris P.
on April 18, 2009 at 1:55 p.m.(Tacoma, WA | UW Community)
Brian B. & Anna F.:
I remember getting a text from UW Alert when someone robbed a bank and fled towards UW Medical center. It's not just for weather related things.
Also, there's another system that HFS runs.
Kellyel: What do you mean CA's? Is that the HFS notification system?
#10 Laine A.
on April 18, 2009 at 2:15 p.m.(Seattle, WA)
I think this demonstrates a serious need to re-evaluate some of the safety measures on campus. Many students are unaware of the fact that we even have a text messaging system (something that I think should be included in summer orientation before new students step on campus for fall quarter), and this system is very much under-used. There is an incredibly dense student population west of campus, and having the UW Alert activated in last night's incident could have kept a lot more students inside and off the streets during that period of time.
I am relieved to hear that some of the residence halls were locked down, but what about the many commuter students living in that area?
#11 Jason P.
on April 18, 2009 at 2:20 p.m.(Seattle, WA | UW Community)
Students have started a new emergency alert system to provide real-time notifications. Find out more about the Student Crime Alert Network [SCAN] at:
SCAN is a student-run system designed to complement existing emergency warning systems on the University of Washington campus. The purpose: transmit timely warnings of criminal incidents and other dangers to the university community. Notification will go out within 15 minutes of an incident.
Why a new system? the existing UW Alert system is part of a large state agency, the University of Washington, and as such has legal and bureaucratic restrictions that can prevent it from responding in real time. This is understandable and unavoidable; we simply need a new system to fill in the gaps.
Learn how this system works at:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note...
#12 Anna F.
on April 18, 2009 at 5:42 p.m.(UW Campus | UW Community)
Chris P.
Yeah, that was the only time that the UW Alert system worked properly. Both the HFS system and the broad UW Alert system responded well to that. There have been other incidents since then that should have been given that kind of prompt, detailed response.
And I'm pretty sure Brian was being sarcastic. ;)
#13 rfritz
on April 18, 2009 at 6:40 p.m.(Seattle, WA | UW Community)
The "timely warning" went out...at 11am this morning. Sigh.
#14 Sherwin L.
on April 18, 2009 at 7:57 p.m.(Bellevue, WA | UW Community)
Enough is enough. For years, the U-District has been plagued with crime and the city and police have done little to suppress it. I didn't get my e-mail notification until late this morning, more than 12 hours after the incident occurred. I had gotten back from work, was utterly confused, and had to ask facebook friends what had happened. This alert system is a joke. What happened to the texting they used for the Med Center robbery earlier this year? What if that suspect had gone on to shoot some students in South Campus? Where are the cops in all this? The city? Mayor Nickels? Every night, there are gangs of youths roaming the Ave. They need to be GONE.
Again, UWPD, SPD, and the City of Seattle receive an F.
#15 John H.
on April 19, 2009 at 12:17 p.m.(UW Campus | UW Community)
What an epic fail.
I like how this event only reached everyone through word of mouth.
#16 Andy M.
on April 19, 2009 at 10:48 p.m.(UW Campus | UW Community)
I'm going to have to echo just about everyone in saying that UW Alert and HFS pretty much failed with this.
Granted, I'm in a North Campus dorm and not as close to the incident as South Campus, but the fact that a shooting occurred so close should have warranted more of a response.
I ultimately found out when a friend posted a link to a KOMO story on it a couple of hours later.
If any of you live in dorms, bring this up at your Hall Council meetings this Monday and share it as an issue of the week. We need RHSA to pressure HFS on this.
#17 InvestorProfessor
on April 20, 2009 at 6:56 a.m.(Seattle, WA)
The UWPD "F-Troop" was probably so ecstatic that they were participating in a real-life "hot pursuit", their minds probably couldn't fathom the possibility that they wouldn't shortly be gloriously apprehending the bad-guys just like in the movies ...
This is the same wanna-be mentality that has made them so fond of patrolling Seattle streets in the University District rather than focusing on University property - and your immediate safety - for many years time.
I have personally watched them pull numerous absurd ego trip stunts on the streets of the Univ District over the years - just like the real cops they always wanted to be - ostentatiously blocking major City of Seattle streets with their patrol cars (as if it were World War Three) over misdemeanors such as minor traffic stops and enfarcing jay-walking laws at 3 AM (when there was not any traffic at all).
One night, they blocked the main lane of NE 45th Street with two patrol cars, screaming to a couple of harmless stumbling winos to lay face-down on the sidewalk ... and show ID!!! You'd have thought from the dramatic scene that they'd cornered John Dillinger!
Perhaps they should focus more on keeping the West Campus dorms safe in such situations, and less on those Rambo Dreams of making it in the "big leages" ... *~<|:-0
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