2 victims attacked overnight as U District robbery spree continues
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SEATTLE - Two people walking home from a party in the University District were assaulted and robbed at gunpoint early Saturday in an attack that was nearly identical to three others last weekend in the very same neighborhood, police said.
Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt said the two victims were walking home after a party at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday when two men jumped out of the bushes in the 5600 block of 16th Avenue NE.
The two men confronted the victims and one of them brandished a semi-automatic handgun, Witt said.
The man with the handgun struck both victims about the face with the handgun. One victim was then robbed of a cell phone, wallet and keys, and the two men fled on foot south on 16th Avenue NE.
Police arrived on scene and searched the area for the two, but could not find them. They are described as black men in their early 20s, both wearing navy or black hooded sweatshirts.
The victims were not seriously injured.
The attack comes just a week after three very similar armed robberies in the same University District neighborhood Sept. 29 during a 30-minute span of violence just a few blocks apart.
One person was arrested Monday in connection with that string of attacks, but police said at the time that there may be more suspects at large.
It is not known whether the most recent attack was carried out by those same suspects, but the method and the location were almost identical.
In all cases, a handgun was used to hit the victims and all were attacked just a few blocks from the University of Washington between NE 50th Street and NE 56th Street.
Witt said police continue to actively investigate all of the assaults.
Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt said the two victims were walking home after a party at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday when two men jumped out of the bushes in the 5600 block of 16th Avenue NE.
The two men confronted the victims and one of them brandished a semi-automatic handgun, Witt said.
The man with the handgun struck both victims about the face with the handgun. One victim was then robbed of a cell phone, wallet and keys, and the two men fled on foot south on 16th Avenue NE.
Police arrived on scene and searched the area for the two, but could not find them. They are described as black men in their early 20s, both wearing navy or black hooded sweatshirts.
The victims were not seriously injured.
The attack comes just a week after three very similar armed robberies in the same University District neighborhood Sept. 29 during a 30-minute span of violence just a few blocks apart.
One person was arrested Monday in connection with that string of attacks, but police said at the time that there may be more suspects at large.
It is not known whether the most recent attack was carried out by those same suspects, but the method and the location were almost identical.
In all cases, a handgun was used to hit the victims and all were attacked just a few blocks from the University of Washington between NE 50th Street and NE 56th Street.
Witt said police continue to actively investigate all of the assaults.
Outlaw hoodies!
 @JT But then how will all the mamma's boys from Bellevue and Woodenville be able to show how much they are God's-gift-to hip-hop when they come to the U District with their skateboards and spray cans? The last one my neighbors caught defacing their property turned out to be 22 years old.Â
man, when i was going to uw, i was always broke. i was so broke i even robbed a robber after knocking him out....
It would appear Seattle is slowly morphing into the next Detroit, Oakland you know the trend. Blood clots.
Two black men? No, I don't believe it.
OK. Would you have been shocked if they were white?
They might have a house nearby as a base, and using Burke Gilman to come and go. Isn't there a back way from B/G through Cowan Park or something like that?
 @LNSeveN Good point, there are still a few crappy rooming/rental houses in the U District and a likely scenario is these guys KNOW someone who lives in one of them.Â
Something is fishy here. First, why are these young thugs singling out college students? Students not going to have large amounts of money on them, are they? And as others have mentioned, isn't it risky to keep pulling off the same type of crime in the same area again and again? Also, robbing younger people would also increase the risk that the victims may overpower them physically. Why take that chance of possibly choosing the wrong young person to rob and have the tables turned?
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It would make more sense to target the elderly as that scumbag up in Everett had been doing. That ***hole should be put in a pillory and have excrement thrown at him. I hope he gets charged with murder because one of his 91-year old victims eventually died.Â
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At any rate, something doesn't sound right to me in the U-district spree.
It's hard to second guess stupid or crazy. Who says  the criminals are proactively thinking about students v. an older population that would have more money. Also many of us over the student college age are not out at 130 am. It's hard to rob people who aren't walking the Ave in the wee hours. Â
@mandy h  And, no, they might not have large amounts of money on them, but they might have some drugs left over from the party. Just a theory.
Mandy, you ask: Why are they singling out college students? Look at the time and date of these attacks â in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday, same as last weekend. They know these students are returning home after a long night of partying and might be too drunk to defend themselves and/or to accurately identify their assailants. They keep returning to the same neighborhood because they know there is a never-ending supply of drunken students there. Itâs like shooting fish in a barrel. But, like others have said, itâs only a matter of time before they attack the wrong student (or an undercover cop).
There is a solution to these robberies...it's called CONCEALED CARRY. **facepalm**...when will the sheeple "get it"?
 @TreeTopFlyer Dude... be realistic. Do you REALLY think when someone jumps you out of the bushes and smacks you in the head with a 9mm you're gonna be able to pull your weapon? Think not. Now, like Wolfen below suggests having block watches with gun-toting neighbors... there's something that can be done.
 @DrugFighter   Good point, how many Navy Seal types are posting these sentiments about whipping out the CC weapon in less than the blink of an eye and slapping the opponents gun out of his hand simultaneously? Answer...none. Not gonna happen. And if they have the drop on someone then they will walk away with yet another gun to put on the streets for some money. As for the armed patrols, that is a civil rights lawsuit or someone's kid getting hit by a trigger happy moron just waiting to happen. Students actually need to have parents teach them to call in suspicious loiterers to 911 rather than not saying anything.Â
@DrugFighter Point taken, Legally armed patrols are indeed a good idea. However, if you are CCing, normally you are on high alert for the zombies, head on a swivel and you watch WTH you are going and avoid areas (like bushes) that they may be hiding out. As responsible citizens, we can send a strong message to these freaks. But that has to start with you too. :o)
Maybe a bunch of 2nd Amendment preachin, gun totin, God fearin, Americans need to start patrolling the streets down there. This IS where our kids go to college you know, and SOMEONE has to provide protection that the police can't seem to.
Hey students, guys trying to look like wanna be gang bangers are NOT other students!!!!! And  they are not cool guys. It's OK to give them a miss and cross the street etc. Yes, these two hid in bushes and jumped out but you truly can tell who you should avoid in the U District. it isn't science. It's a study in the painfully obvious. In the past such "sprees" have almost always involved a very small group of individuals who usually get rolled up by the police sooner or later.Â
and as almost always they were wearing black hoodies.
@I Like Meat.....Hey wait just a second here.....isn't that "profiling"? :o)  You nailed it!
U District has always been a getto hole time to move along...
These idiots do know that they will eventually get caught don't they? Robbing and assaulting in the same area isn't the smartest thing if you ask me. Hope they mess with some people that are ready to fight and get their arses whooped.Â
 @Koreanman012 All the SPD needs to do is cruise around the area at night in a unmarked car using a thermal imager and anyone lurking in bushes could easily be spotted...even with their all powerful hoodies on.
 @I Like Meat  @Koreanman012 So  if there were a string of robberies occurring in a 6 block stretch of a particular street, occurring at night, you think the police would endeavor to place some resources there to apprehend the ne'er do-wells? I had the same thought.
@Sid Vishess @I Like Meat @Koreanman012 ...I don't know if the PD has the manpower available to do that...I'd sure like to see some undercover work goin on though....after all, isn't that how the zombies do it (undercover)??
@Sid Vishess @I Like Meat That would be the ideal/logical thing to do but maybe this type of crime isn't serious enough for them to warrant such an attempt.
only a matter of time before these preditors are caught. or, choose the wrong target.
@SwampThing ...Yup. Their days are indeed numbered.
 @TreeTopFlyer  @SwampThing Hopefully they'll be "permanently" numbered.
 @SwampThing Yes, could we speed up the process and catch these scumbags... Funding issues probably are giving the police less man/woman power to saturate this crime ridden dump!
Yes we could get the Police to hire some part time police to boost Obama's Part Time Employment numbers :)