One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

[Sapiens]

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911...rom=blog_last3

...

About 10:10 p.m., the pair was on 29th Avenue between East Yesler Way and East Spruce Street, discussing details of an apparently unrelated traffic stop that occurred a short time before, officers said.

Sweeney was in the driver's seat and Brenton in the passenger seat when another vehicle – described as a light-colored small car, possibly a gray or white Toyota – drove next to them. Police do not know how many people were in the suspect vehicle, but one started shooting through the passenger window of the police car.

There was no warning, officials said.

...

Here it is, the lone wolf. Watershed event.

[Chris]

Re: One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

why is this so significant, Sapiens?

[goadam1]

Re: One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

why is this so significant, Sapiens?

Is it this? I'm not sure I understand this posting.

Anyway, chance to put up a stupid cat picture.

[Sapiens]

Re: One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

why is this so significant, Sapiens?

Chris,

Officers have been training for this type of event, they know excessive regulations are causing the public to push back. So here it is, it is finally happening as a close acquaintance that is in Law enforcement pointed out.

[Master Shake]

Re: One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

Chris,

Officers have been training for this type of event, they know excessive regulations are causing the public to push back. So here it is, it is finally happening as a close acquaintance that is in Law enforcement pointed out.

Or, or it could be a lone crazy, someone with a grudge against the officer who was killed or the police in general, or it could be gang-related.

I think you are conclusion jumping big time.

[Chris]

Re: One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

Sapiens,

In the UK, the rates of unprovoked violent crime are rocketing. This isn't caused by the crisis but the crisis was a necessary condition. Our social breakdown was a deliberate policy instigated by the Left who have been in power here for more than a decade.

At least you have the right to bare arms...even if they are occasional used for reasons other than self-defence. Here we are on our own. Police protection is mostly non-existent.

[KGW]

Re: One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

Let me refer to this work again:

Above The Law: Police and the Excessive Use of Force
Jerome Skolnick and James Fyfe

The authors point out that law itself is force, and that the overabundance of statutes is excessive force in itself. This contributes to the mindset of police officers, and not in a good way.

Putting citizens in a corner is not too bright either. . .

My condolences to the family of the person who was killed.

[Quincy K]

Re: One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

Sapiens,

In the UK, the rates of unprovoked violent crime are rocketing. This isn't caused by the crisis but the crisis was a necessary condition. Our social breakdown was a deliberate policy instigated by the Left who have been in power here for more than a decade.

At least you have the right to bare arms...even if they are occasional used for reasons other than self-defence. Here we are on our own. Police protection is mostly non-existent.

Do you have any proof of this? I am not asking you for links, just numbers you have seen to justify your position.

[lurker]

Re: One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

Do you have any proof of this? I am not asking you for links, just numbers you have seen to justify your position.

The UK does have a violent crime problem:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...of-Europe.html

Depending on who you believe violent crime has either risen or fallen since the current left wing government was elected.

Alcohol is blamed as a factor in half of the incidents and raises further questions over 24-hour drinking.

The UK has a serious alcohol problem, and violent crime is just one symptom. There is also a problem with low level "thuggery" being socially acceptable, where it is not in the (mainstream) US.

The last major gun legislation in the UK was in 1997 following the Dunblane school shooting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm...o._2)_Act_1997

Even prior to this act the number of handguns legally carried in public was minimal, so to suggest that disarming citizens has led to an increase in violent crime is disingenuous.

My guess is that if the UK followed the path of the US in terms of allowing private handgun ownership the result would be a massive increase in shooting fatalities largely caused by drunks leaving the pub shooting each other and passers by, as opposed to just punching them / shouting obscenities / urinating.

Solve the alcohol problem and you'll solve the violent crime problem.

[Sapiens]

Re: One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

Or, or it could be a lone crazy, someone with a grudge against the officer who was killed or the police in general, or it could be gang-related.

I think you are conclusion jumping big time.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...opshot02m.html

Link sought between officer's slaying and arson

Seattle police are looking for possible connections between Saturday night's fatal shooting of veteran Officer Timothy Brenton and the torching...

By Jennifer Sullivan and Steve Miletich

Information sought

A $40,000 reward is being offered for anyone with information that leads to an arrest. Callers can contact the Seattle Police Department Homicide Unit at 206-684-5550, or the department's tip line at 206-233-5000. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous can call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

Source: Seattle Police Department

Officer memorial

The memorial service for Officer Timothy Brenton has been scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at Key Arena in Seattle.

The Seattle Police Department is establishing a bank account for Officer Brenton's family. More information will be available soon.

Source: Seattle Police Department

Seattle police are looking for possible connections between Saturday night's fatal shooting of veteran Officer Timothy Brenton and the torching nine days earlier of four police vehicles at a maintenance yard on South Charles Street.

Both were "very well-planned and targeted attacks," said police spokesman Sean Whitcomb.

Police are asking for the public's help in both incidents, Whitcomb said.

No connections between the two incidents have been made, Whitcomb said, noting there is a sharp difference between damaging police vehicles and killing a police officer. But the close timing of the incidents and the sophisticated nature of both attacks warrant scrutiny, Whitcomb said.

"So we can't rule anything out and we can't rule out the fact that someone intended to find and kill [police] on Saturday, and they had a plan that was very orchestrated, and they performed this murderous plan and made a successful escape for the time being," he said.

Police officials say the driver of the car that pulled alongside Brenton's patrol car, and from which the shots were fired, backed up and turned around before driving away.

The move was risky because it gave a student officer with Brenton time to get out of the patrol car and return fire, Whitcomb said.

The maneuver suggests the driver didn't want to drive past the patrol car's dash-mounted camera and possibly had a planned escape route.

The Charles Street incident on Oct. 22, which remains unsolved, also involved a "considerable amount of time planning and executing," Whitcomb said. Whitcomb said he was basing that conclusion on the extent of the destruction and evidence that hasn't been publicly disclosed.

News reports at the time of the torching said fliers were left at the scene referring to the case of a King County sheriff's deputy accused of assaulting a teenage girl in a SeaTac holding cell Nov. 29, 2008, after she kicked a shoe at him. The deputy was fired Sept. 9 over the beating, which was captured on surveillance tape.

Police haven't confirmed the reports of the fliers.

Three Seattle police cars and an RV used as a mobile precinct were torched in the maintenance yard at 714 S. Charles St., where police, fire and other city vehicles awaiting maintenance work are stored.

Workers at the yard saw a suspicious-looking man walking through a parking lot about 5 a.m. As they tried to talk to him, flames began erupting from the police cars and the man ran from the scene.

Police concluded the fires were deliberately set. There were reports of explosions, but police declined to confirm that.

The drive-by shooting of Brenton shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday represented something the department had not seen before: the apparent targeting of police at random.

"It was incredibly brazen and bold," said Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel, who called the shooting an "assassination."

Brenton, 39, a field training officer, and officer-trainee Britt Sweeney were seated in their parked squad car discussing an earlier traffic stop when Sweeney sensed danger over her left shoulder and yelled for her partner to duck.

A car pulled up alongside the officers' car in the 100 block of 29th Avenue shortly after 10 p.m., and someone inside opened fire.

Bullets grazed Sweeney's back as she hunkered down. Brenton was struck by several gunshots and died instantly.

Sweeney, 33, grabbed the police radio and called for help, jumped from the car and fired several rounds at the gunman's sedan as it backed away from the cruiser, turned around and sped down the Leschi street, police said Sunday.

Speaking at a news conference Sunday afternoon, Mayor Greg Nickels called the shooting "a coldblooded killing."

Police have not identified any suspects or a motive in the shooting. Asked if the shooting could be gang-connected, Pugel said nothing had been ruled out.

In a briefing Monday morning before the City Council, Interim Police Chief John Diaz said the shooter apparently watched the earlier traffic stop conducted by the two officers and then ambushed them.

"This was a hit on law enforcement, a hit on government, not this particular officer," he said.

Footage from all cameras from patrol cars that were in the vicinity Saturday night is being examined for clues. Cameras from local businesses and red-light cameras are also being examined, he said.

"This was a profound tragedy. A shock to our senses," said Diaz, apologizing for being emotional. "It's a family."

Diaz said the department is getting many tips, and Clear Channel has donated four billboards to try to help solve the shooting. He said the department has made changes in deployment of officers but didn't give any specifics.

Police spent Sunday night and early today looking into people previously arrested for threats to police and obstruction to see where they were on Saturday night, according to a law-enforcement source.

Police said Brenton had not been the target of any threats.

David Gomez, the assistant special agent in charge of the Seattle office of the FBI, said the bureau has opened an investigation file — routine in all fatal police shootings — and that agents and supervisors are culling their informants for leads.

"Sooner or later, someone is going to talk," he said.

He said that the FBI has offered "its full resources" to the Seattle Police Department and that, if the case remains unsolved, the bureau will offer a federal reward.

Brenton, of Marysville, was a married father of two young children, a boy and a girl, said the slain officer's uncle, Jon Brenton, 50, of Kingston.

Timothy Brenton had been with the department since December 2000.

"Everybody loved him," Jon Brenton said Sunday. "I don't think there was any reason anybody would come after him."

A Snohomish County sheriff's deputy was parked outside the slain officer's Marysville home Sunday. He said the family did not wish to comment.

The slain officer's father and another uncle are retired Seattle police officers, and his brother-in-law is a Seattle firefighter, Assistant Police Chief Nick Metz said.

Brenton transferred to the Seattle Police Department from the police department in La Conner, Skagit County.

Sweeney, of Seattle, was treated for minor injuries at Harborview Medical Center. Pugel said she was resting at home Sunday and declined to release much about her life out of concern that she remains a target.

"We are concerned with her safety. It is a miracle she is alive," said Pugel, who praised Sweeney's quick thinking and behavior that he likened to that of a veteran officer.

Police said Sweeney recently completed six months of training at two police academies and had been in field training for about a month.

In Seattle, student officers are paired with field training officers in a "job shadow-type role," police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said. Student officers generally work in field training for about 3 ½ months.

Investigators tentatively have concluded that a rifle was fired at the officers, according to a Seattle police source briefed on the matter.

Kent Holt, 28, was at a Halloween party near the scene and was outside on the deck of a multiplex when he heard "at least 10" gunshots. He said he thought it was fireworks until the street flooded with police cars.

Investigators have questioned one man in connection with the shooting, but police are only calling him a "person of interest."

That man had been booked into the King County Jail on Friday for threatening police but was released on bond Saturday.

Police questioned him shortly after the shooting and rearrested him for investigation of obstruction, according to a law-enforcement source.

Awaz Maki Madow, 25, on Monday was ordered held on $30,000 bail — far less than the $150,000 city prosecutors requested.

Madow, 25, pleaded not guilty to a charge of obstruction. Police documents say that on Friday he threatened a King County Jail sergeant who had been assigned to his pending case. According to a police report, Madow told the sergeant he might have to "take someone out" and that he talking of killing a Seattle police officer and a Corrections officer.

The last Seattle police officer to die in the line of duty was Joselito "Lito" Barber, 26, who was killed Aug. 13, 2006, when an SUV driven by Mary Rivas ran a red light and struck his patrol car.

Rivas was sentenced to 20 years in prison for vehicular homicide in November 2007.

The last Seattle officer to be gunned down was Antonio Terry, 36, who was fatally shot June 4, 1994, when he stopped to help two men, Quentin Ervin and Eric Smiley, whose vehicle had broken down on an Interstate 5 offramp.

Smiley was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 33 years in prison.

Ervin also was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

At a news conference Monday morning, African-American leaders denounced the killing, calling it an "assassination" and saying these acts won't be tolerated in their community.

The Rev. Harriett Walden, director of Mothers for Police Accountability, said that though her organization is a police watchdog group, "in this moment we stand in solidarity with the Seattle Police Department in the loss of their fallen comrade."

They encouraged anyone with information to come forward.

"In order to stop the violence, we need to break the code of silence," said Pastor Patrinell Wright, head of the Total Experience Gospel Choir.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com

Seattle Times staff reporters Susan Gilmore, Maureen O'Hagan and Mike Carter, news researcher Gene Balk and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Earlier versions of this story, published November 2, 2009 and corrected November 3, 2009, referenced an incorrect date that a Sheriff's deputy was fired over assaulting a teenage girl in a SeaTac holding cell. He was fired on Sept. 9. We regret the error

Yeah, random. :rolleyes:

[Slimprofits]

Re: One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

Need something to make your blood boil, Sapiens?

Check out the comments left to this article about the cop cars being burnt out:

http://www.seattlepi.com/soundoff/co...ticleID=411439

about 33% of them not only find ways to justify, but also gleefully celebrate the beating of the girl in the interrogation room.

People make me sick.

[Chris]

Re: One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

Do you have any proof of this? I am not asking you for links, just numbers you have seen to justify your position.

Age of the thug: Violent crime by women goes up 80% under Labour

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...80-Labour.html

The crimes that no one is counting: Police fail to record street attacks and wife-beating in attempt to meet Government targets


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ice-crime.html

There are plenty more anecdotal plus there is the office of national statistics.

[Slimprofits]

Re: One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

The crimes that no one is counting: Police fail to record street attacks and wife-beating in attempt to meet Government targets

that has to be one of the oldest tricks in the policing book.

[Master Shake]

Re: One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

Sapiens,

At least you have the right to bare arms...even if they are occasional used for reasons other than self-defence. Here we are on our own. Police protection is mostly non-existent.

And you poor bastards can't even own pepper spray, can you?

[Master Shake]

Re: One officer killed, one wounded in Leschi shooting

My guess is that if the UK followed the path of the US in terms of allowing private handgun ownership the result would be a massive increase in shooting fatalities largely caused by drunks leaving the pub shooting each other and passers by, as opposed to just punching them / shouting obscenities / urinating.

Solve the alcohol problem and you'll solve the violent crime problem.

That the same type of argument the gun-phobics made when many states began liberalizing concealed carry laws: it will turn Florida/Virginia/(insert state name here) into the "Old West," minor fender benders will escalate into shoot-outs, etc. None of the hysterical rhetoric came to pass.