On October 5th, shortly after midnight, officers from the North Precinct responded to a call of shots fired at a car in the area of NW 77th Street and 24th Avenue NW. Officers arrived and contacted the occupants of the victim vehicle. Officers observed that the rear window of the car was shattered, and that there was a bullet hole in the driver’s side headrest and what appeared to be damage to the rear bumper where at least two bullets had struck the car. The driver of the car, a 19 year old male, was struck in the right shoulder, but the round did not penetrate the skin, but it did leave a bruise. The driver and his 19 year old female passenger gave police the following account:
They were driving around the neighborhood when they were confronted by two while male suspects, one wearing a black sweatshirt, the other a grey sweatshirt, in a grey Mazda. During this confrontation, the males got out of the car and pointed a handgun at the victim’s car. The victims attempted to leave the area by driving down side streets. Some time later the suspects found the victims again and began “ramming” the victim’s car with their car. The victim driver was able to turn his car around and drive off, but not before 3 shots were fired by the suspects at the fleeing car.
Officers could not find any damage to the front of the victim’s car to indicate the “ramming.” Neither of the victims could state where the ramming occurred. As officers were investigating the scene, they noticed a dark colored car with two occupants park near the insection. It appeared that the occupants were very intent on watching the officer’s activity. The car drove off after the occupants noticied the police looking at them. Officers were able to follow the vehicle and saw that the occupants matched the descriptions of the suspects given by the victims. The suspects were detained while the victim was brought by to idenitify. The victim positively identified the suspects as the ones responsible for shooting at them. The suspects were arrested and transported to the North Precinct.
At the precinct, the suspects stated that they were driving by when they observed the police activity and pulled over to take a look. While giving a statement to officers, the female victim asked that officers retrieve her cigarettes from the car. As officers went to get the cigarettes, they observed a small baggie of suspected cocaine inside the cigarette pack where she had been sitting. The 19 year old female passenger was then placed under arrest for Investigation of VUCSA (drugs). The male driver and female passenger could not answer alot of the basic questions posed to them by officers about the events. There was no evidence of any “ramming” of their vehicle. Officers did not locate any weapon on the suspects or in their car. The two suspects were interviewed and released from the precinct. The female “vicitm” was booked into the King County Jail for drugs.