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Man Arrested After Shooting at Officers, Prowling Homes Near Volunteer Park

Police arrested a 58-year-old man Sunday night after he shot at officers and then led them on an almost two-hour search through a north Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Police first learned of the suspect after a series of suspicious, prowler-type calls near Volunteer Park: at 7:40 p.m., a resident in the 1400 block of East Ward Street called to report a man in a trench coat and a bucket hat walking around a neighbor’s house, peering in the windows. Before officers arrived, the caller stated the suspect left in a black Dodge sedan.

About an hour later, a 911 caller in the 1600 block of Federal Avenue East reported a male matching the same description in her back yard. She also noted a black sedan had been driving up and down her block.

Ten minutes later, police received an alarm call for a residence in the same block. The home owner’s security system captured footage of a man in a bucket hat and a trench coat walking around the house before breaking a window with a rock. Once again, the suspect left the scene before officers arrived.

At 10:05 p.m., officers spotted the black Dodge sedan near 14th Avenue East and East Mercer Street. The car was traveling in the center of the road with the hazard lights activated. As officers were about to stop the car, the driver fired two shots at them out the driver’s side window and then drove off. Neither of the officers in the vehicle were struck.

Police from multiple precincts flooded the area to search for the suspect. Officers soon found the car in the 1100 block of 15th Avenue East, and saw the suspect get out and run in between two houses. Police contained the area and began searching for the man, who continued to run and hide on several properties. Just before midnight, officers tracked down the suspect and – after a brief negotiation – took him into custody.

Police will book the man into King County Jail for two counts of attempted homicide and one count of attempted burglary.

Officers recovered shell casings at the shooting scene at 14th Avenue East and East Mercer Street, and K9 teams are searching for a firearm in the neighborhood where the suspect hid.