Update: The suspect was seen starting a fire inside the apartment after police entered the man’s residence with a remotely controlled robot around 6:30 PM. Firefighters assisted with controlling fire and the suspect finally emerged from the apartment and was taken into custody.
The suspect is being taken to the hospital for an evaluation and will later be booked into King County Jail on charges stemming from today threats and standoff, in addition to the originating warrant.
Seattle police have closed Greenwood Avenue and are working to resolve an hours-long standoff with a man who threatened to use explosives to harm his neighbors and officers from the Auburn Police Department, when they attempted to arrest him Wednesday afternoon.
Auburn police contacted the man at his apartment in the 10200 block of Greenwood Avenue N around 11 AM and were attempting to get the man to surrender when he announced that he had explosives.
Seattle police joined Auburn officers at the scene and immediately began evacuating other residents in the apartment complex. Seattle police negotiators, arson-bomb detectives and SWAT officers arrived at the scene in hopes of safely coaxing the man out.
Police have not confirmed whether the man has any explosives, but are taking precautionary measures to ensure the safety of the community and officers at the scene.
As of 5:30 PM police negotiators are still talking with the man and attempting to get him to surrender peacefully.
Traffic impacts will continue as the incident unfolds. Police are working with several partner agences, including King County Metro and the Red Cross, to assist the numerous residents displaced by the ongoing standoff.
Additional updates to this incident can be found here on the Blotter and on Twitter via @SeattlePD and @SeattleDOT.