A 47-year-old man is in custody after menacing officers while armed with a machete in front of a church, initiating a nearly four-hour standoff in North Seattle.
At about 3:50 p.m., patrol officers responded to a man trespassing in the 1600 block of Northeast 50th Street. The suspect began yelling and throwing trash around the property. He then armed himself with a machete when officers confronted him.
The man barricaded himself near the building’s main entrance, ignoring police commands.
Police evacuated the church and cordoned off the area. Additional resources, including Negotiators, the Crisis Intervention Team, and SWAT arrived on scene. The suspect did not cooperate with officers during negotiations. After a lengthy standoff, police used less lethal tools, including a taser to take him into custody.
Officers recovered the weapon as evidence. The suspect is expected to be booked into the King County Jail for felony harassment, possession of a deadly weapon, and obstruction once medically evaluated at the hospital.
The church permanently trespassed the suspect from their property.
Incident Number: 2026-12146
