Police caught a 21-year-old convicted felon and recovered a stolen pistol last night after officers responded to reports of gunfire at a Central District park.
Witnesses called police around 7 PM last night and reported two groups of men were firing guns at one another in Pratt Park, near 19th Avenue South and South Main Street. No one was injured in the incident.
Police arrived and learned one man had reportedly fired several shots in the air before exchange gunfire with a second group of men. He then fled east from the scene, and officers caught up to him and took him into custody near 22nd Avenue S. and S. Jackson St.
During the arrest, Officer Daniel Aguirre found a handgun–still warm, possibly from having been recently fired–in the man’s pocket.
The man refused to tell officers his name, but police were able to fingerprint him at the precinct and identify him as a wanted, previously convicted felon, who is unable to legally possess firearms. Police also discovered the handgun recovered from the man’s pocket was one of two firearms stolen out of a plumber’s work truck in December in the Leschi neighborhood.
Officers booked the man into the King County Jail for unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of stolen property, reckless endangerment and warrants. Detectives are investigating the case and working to identify the group of other suspects involved in the incident.