UPDATE: The 28-year-old male suspect sustained injury in an apparent suicide attempt after he inhaled a mixture of chemicals that were inside a bucket.
Patrol and SWAT officers, negotiators, Arson/Bomb Squad detectives and the fire department’s hazardous material team all responded to the incident.
SWAT officers and negotiators were able to make contact with the suspect and convince him to crawl to the officers’ location where he was taken into custody without further incident.
Fire department medics treated the suspect at the scene. He was subsequently transported to Harborview Medical Center for follow up treatment. After treatment of his injuries he will undergo a mental health evaluation.
Officers documented the incident and will forward their report to the prosecuting attorney’s office for review of potential criminal charges.
Nobody else was injured during the incident.
This remains an active and on-going investigation.
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Seattle police shut down streets in the University District and evacuated the offices of a Jewish campus group near the University of Washington after an employee at the center threatened to blow up the building.
At 1:45 PM, employees at the Hillel center at NE 47th and 17th Avenue NE contacted police and said an employee had threatened to mix toxic chemicals to cause an explosion in the building, and had headed for a supply closet.
Employees evacuated the building, contacted police and informed SPD the suspect may also be armed with a knife.
Police have closed off traffic along 16th Ave NE and 17th Ave NE along NE 50th St and are working to determine whether the man may have mixed chemicals found in the building to create a toxic gas.
An SPD SWAT team found the suspect in the building’s basement and arrested him shortly before 3 pm.
We’ll update this post with additional info as we get it.
UPDATE: Streets in the area will be closed until at least 4 pm as police investigate the incident and search the building.