Two men were arrested and two guns were recovered after police responded to gunshots heard in Belltown early this morning.
Just before 3:00 this morning, a West Precinct officer was at 2nd Avenue and Blanchard Street when he heard what sounded like 12-15 gunshots coming from the direction of Western Avenue and Lenora Street. The officer responded to the location and began searching the area on foot with several other officers.
As they approached a parking lot on Lenora, they saw two cars parked in the lot. A resident in an apartment above the lot yelled down to the officers that there were two people near the cars. The officers found the two men, ages 26 and 23, standing near one of the cars. They both appeared to be intoxicated. The officers asked the men if they had heard any gunshots, and both men claimed that they had not.
Officers located shell casings for a 9mm in the alley near the lot. A witness, who works in a business there, came out and spoke with officers. He stated that he heard the shots and initally thought they came from inside his building. When the shots stopped, he walked to the alley side door of the business and saw that it had been propped open with a brick. The witness stated that he heard two men talking with each other in the alley. According to the witness, one of the men told the other, “man, those were expensive rounds.” The witness then stepped outside and saw the two men police were talking to walk toward the parked cars.
The officers told the men what information the witness had conveyed to them. One of the cars was registered to one of the men. The officer told the men that he believed there might be a gun inside the car. One of the men looked at the other and told him, “it isn’t worth it,” and admitted to the officers that there was a gun inside the car. Officers looked through the rear window and saw what looked like a .38 caliber revolver on the back seat. The officer asked the man what had happened.
The man stated that he and his friend had been drinking and decided to shoot at a soup can in the alley. They put a soup can on top of the concrete block in the alley and then each took turns shooting at the can. Both men were arrested for Reckless Endangerment and Discharge of a Firearm, both misdemeanors. The registered owner of the car signed a consent to search form and agreed to let officers search his vehicle. The officers recovered the .38 caliber revolver from the back seat. Officers told the men that the casings recovered from the scene were actually 9mm. One of the men admitted then that there was another handgun, a 9mm Glock, on the front driver’s side floor. That gun was also recovered. One of the men has a valid concealed weapons permit. The guns were placed into evidence. Both men were later booked into the King County Jail.