A potential tragedy was averted yesterday after officers arrested a man following his threats to shoot staff and clients inside a North Seattle clinic and the Northgate Mall.
Yesterday, just after 2:30 pm, North Precinct officers responded to a call at a psychiatric clinic in the Northgate neighborhood. Staff at the clinic reported that a client had arrived for an appointment and then began making threats about shooting people inside the building and at the nearby Northgate Mall. The staff reported that the 51-year-old man then raised his shirt to reveal an empty gun holster on his hip. The man then left the building and the staff called 911 immediately, and locked down the building.
Officers learned that the suspect lived in an apartment complex in Kenmore and drove there in hopes of locating him, after searches of the immediate area and the mall were unsuccessful.
Officers contacted the man in the parking lot of the complex. When officers asked if he had any weapons the man replied “yes, a 9mm.” The man indicated that he had a handgun in a holster on his hip. Officers safely removed the loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun from the holster and took the man into custody without incident. He was booked into the King County Jail for Felony Harassment.