Man shot during home invasion in Kirkland
KIRKLAND, Wash. -- Police here are searching for three men who broke into a home in the Totem Lake area and shot a man late Sunday.
Sgt. Rob Saloum said the victim was at home in the 12000 block of 102nd Court NE with his girlfriend when two men forced their way inside and hit him in the head with a gun.
The altercation spilled outside where the man was shot in the arm and torso, Saloum said. The victim was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and was listed in stable condition.
The intruders drove off in a car that was spotted a short time later by Kirkland police. Three men who were inside got out of the car and ran off, Saloum said.
Officers searched the area using a police dog, but the three men remain at large.
Saloum said it was unclear if the victim knew the men who shot him.
"We don't know any motive at this point," Saloum said. "It's too early."
Sgt. Rob Saloum said the victim was at home in the 12000 block of 102nd Court NE with his girlfriend when two men forced their way inside and hit him in the head with a gun.
The altercation spilled outside where the man was shot in the arm and torso, Saloum said. The victim was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and was listed in stable condition.
The intruders drove off in a car that was spotted a short time later by Kirkland police. Three men who were inside got out of the car and ran off, Saloum said.
Officers searched the area using a police dog, but the three men remain at large.
Saloum said it was unclear if the victim knew the men who shot him.
"We don't know any motive at this point," Saloum said. "It's too early."
My wife is friends with the neighbors of this incident. The girlfriend frequently looks drugged up. Very good chance this was somehow drug related.
This is a semi-detached/duplex apartment property. Our friend reports hearing "Help! Call 911!" through the wall before the incident moved outside. Really nuts. Our friend has an elementary school age daughter. They are considering moving the hell out of there but the other neighbors want them to stay to keep the neighborhood from going to hell. Â
After hearing the news of the shooting so close to my house I went with a friend to see what was happening. With the scene so congested with police we decided to take a drive around the block where not more than a minute from the scene we saw two black males running through neighborhoods heading down a dead end street suspicious to say the least. This was 20 or so minutes after the story aired on the news so over a half hour after the cops arrived and at this time they were still wasting their time searching the apartment complex and questioning witnesses. When we informed an officer of the sighting he disregarded the information. The Kirkland police are not welcome in Juanita, their inexperience and lack of common sense allowed the suspects to escape even with such a huge portion of the department designated to find them. I found the suspects in the very first place that I looked a considerable time after the story aired while an entire squad of at least 20 officers couldn't from the get-go. If the cops spent less time bumbling around the scene like a bunch of rookies they would have found their man. This ones on you KPD:)
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 @Frustrated God forbid if you have a break-in I guess you can call a local drug dealer. Do you think the Police are as good "CSI". That is real life and it takes more than 43 minutes to catch the criminals who are probably not in any data-base, Like on TV.Â
 @Ron Smith It does not take a positive id to detain a suspect on suspicion. While I do not think the police are as good as the fictional characters on tv shows I would at least assume our trusted police force would have the wherewithal to set up a perimeter of at least a full block of the scene immediately after the suspects fled. The lack of DNA evidence or match through a criminal database is no reason not to locate the suspects it clearly didn't stop me from finding them, the fact of the matter is that the criminals were allowed to escape based on inaction by the police. Cops took too long to figure out what they were going to do which allowed the suspects to escape and remain at large despite the fact that they were clearly out of their element (they made it littler over a block in a half hour).  And I dont know what you are implying when you say "you can call a local drug dealer" but if my house was broken into I would want to be able to call the police and know that they will use their superior tactics and training to apprehend the criminals not sit around and show off in front of the news cameras.
 @Frustrated   How do you know that they were the same people who committed the crime?Â
@Frustrated So how far from the scene do you live?
 @NBA_Is_Useless  @Frustrated Right up the hill
Wasn't there a home invasion on 137th in Kirkland a while ago? Any relation?
Juanita area really...not more than about 6 blocks from the lake. And dots are not connecting for me on this story at all. 3 guys break into a house with occupants, pistol whip one occupant while apparently ignoring the other, take him outside, shoot him (non-fatally), and then leave? And not included in the story but it sounds like they may not have taken any property? As others have said, not random and not a theft. This was personal
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Take all that money you fat Kirkland Cops spend on New Chargers and invest that money into Cardio training and these men would have been caught.Â
I'm telling ya, any career criminal, Level 3 sex offender, or murderer (attempted murderer) need to be shipped to Antarctica the same way the English did with their criminals to Australia. This is enough! Between the economy, overpopulation, and lack of a qualified police force, our state is turning into free-for-all for every thug, lowlife, and criminal out there.
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Go ahead, mothereffers and try to break into my house. You'll have a 9mm to contend with and I won't hesitate to take a shot.
 @Tattooed_Angel Don't want them in Antarctica. I worked down there several years and wintered over.
Break ins when the occupants are at home are become way too frequent.
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For example, Maxfield Dare ( see http://www.kingcounty.gov/Prosecutor/news/2012/june/burglaries.aspx?print=1 )
has broken into homes when the residents are there. He has stolen jewelry, electronics, and cars, and has also robbed people on the street.
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Maxfield Dare is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, August 24 at 1:45 PM by Judge Michael Trickey.
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The King County Prosecutor is seeking an 11-year prison term for Dare.
Kirkland PD catch speeders faster than armed felons.... :-)
This is crazy and happening way too often. One time is too often and completely unacceptable. The laws need to change in this state. This type of crime should be similar to domestic terrorism. Those guilty of this should face mandatory death regardless if they kill someone. The trash needs to be taken out. No longer should they be locked up, housed, and fed at the taxpayers dime.Â
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Signed,
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Blue Dog Democrat (fed up with crime and criminals -a choice of life)
@HallandOates What? Democrat promoting vilolence? and actaul enforcement of the law and even ..... death, wow are you sure you want to vote for Obama?
 @HallandOates And some people wonder why folks carry when at home. They even get ridiculed for it. It's because sometimes, the ten seconds it takes to get to the gunsafe and open it is to long. Be safe: shoot back.
Hope these morons get the bullets back POSTAGE DUE .... or a shotgun slug to the face!
 @Freespeech String them up like a pinata. Then let their victims have their way.Â
Oh I Like that idea!
I would like to find out more about this story. Â Did they steal anything? Â Sounds like the criminals went into the house to get the victim. Â I would like to know what that reason might be. Â Drugs???
I'd like to have more facts before speculating that the homeowners were somehow in the wrong.
 @Waif I just ran into someone at Westlake park who claimed to be the girlfriend of the victim. I'm no drug expert but she was about as wasted as they come. Either Oxys or smack the way her eyes were drifting.
Seems like home invasions are significantly higher in recent years. I'd like to see KOMO do a story and show us the stats on that and what works best when you're victimized.
 @Magic 8 Ball I apologize for missing some of the link to the crime stats. here is the full url. http://www.statisticbrain.com/u-s-crime-statistics/ I missed the backslash
@Magic 8 Ball I think the economy has a lot to with the number of home invasions.
No Kidding , yea let's all vote for Obama maybe the economy will get even worse and if we're really lucky he will sign a law takeing all our guns away too'.. so we'll be safer .....NOT! ... Better wake up America, and read a little history , ALL major Human Rights Viloations have occured under a Socialst/ Fashist dictatorship, look it up, PLEASE!
 @Magic 8 Ball It does seem that there are more of them, but maybe we just hear about more because of the information age we live in. It would be nice to see area specific stats, overall violent crime has decreased in the US the last 20+ yrs. http://www.statisticbrain.com/u-s-crime-statistic
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I think we know what doesn't work, gun control. From an article in Forbes. "Take the number of home break-ins while residents are present as an indication. In Canada and Britain, both with tough gun-control laws, nearly half of all burglaries occur when residents are present. But in the U.S. where many households are armed, only about 13% happen when someone is home." http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2012/02/21/disarming-the-myths-promoted-by-the-gun-control-lobby/2/
Those that do not have are getting very desperate and the more desperate they get the more they will try to take from those that have. I have championed this thought for years and mark my words as the US produces more and more desperate people home invasions and other crimes of personal theft will become common place.
@left-center The people who are doing this are not doing it to buy food for thier starving families. they are doing it for drug money.
 @left-center I have a hard time believing that somebody trying to feed their family is going to be violent in the process. This was more likely a drug fueled break-in.
 @Wabbit It already has begun, only in a different extreme, but a desperate measure just the same. Every now and then we'll read the sad story of a senior couple and a murder/suicide. Do you think if they had adequate healthcare (the social safety net kind and not a plan that will bankrupt them if one of them gets sick) they wouldn't want to go on living? I do believe that desperate people are capable of committing crimes against society to assure their families do not suffer great hardship.
 @left-center Death with Dignity (murder/suicide) is not because of lack of resources but because life has become not worth living.
 @Wabbit I agree that this was more than likely drug related. That being said you are deluding yourself if you actually believe that someone trying to feed their family wouldn't become violent. When push comes to shove and the survival of yourself and your family is on the line NONE of us are above using whatever means is necessary to get what we need. Times of real crisis bring out the worst in all of us. Your will to survive overrides any sense of morality and you will find yourself rationalizing all kinds of behavior.
 @Wabbit I too, believe this instance was drug related But you can not convince me that someday soon the situation for the poor and less fortunate will not deteriorate to the point where they too will present a danger.
Hey Dude, with a screen name like left-center are you an Obama fan? And if so why?
@left-center @Wabbit All anyone has to do is look at the violence that erupts about the 5th day of a country not having food on the store shelves and yes, we are headed that way fast. People will kill you in a heartbeat if it means their kid will eat.
 @Wabbit  @left-center Agreed. I would think a food bank would be a better place to get food from. This is likely gang or drug related.
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Add to that, we have a governing body that has fueled class warfare.
@Mic'sgirl Yeah anytime your elected representatives suspend democracy due to a lobbyist's desires you do create class warfare.
 @left-center You really think these are people who are starving and trying to feed their children or something? These are probably meth heads or such... I think you need to change your thoughts!
 @buggy I purposely chose not to be that specific. It is my intention to point out as the social safety nets erode the more desperate people will become. We already know of the desperation in the drug using community, my theory is that this narrow cohort will be joined by the non-drug users as their personal situation deteriorates.
 @left-center Many of those that "Don't have" would have it they got off their backsides and got a job. They need to put down the game controller and start working. Naturally there is a small percentage that honestly want but can't get work but many are simply lazy.
You mean drug users.
More Puget Sound shootings!
Note to Kirkland PD - Less Krispy Kremes, More Cardio. thanx.
This doesn't sound like a random attack. Least I hope not; I live in the Totem Lake area.
@Petwlkr Home invasions are almost never random.
Reads like the dogs are not good trackers.
There is a lot of science involved in dogs tracking someone. Scent is effected by conditions and terrain. The dogs are probably just fine, sometimes tracking just doesn't work out. Dogs find people plenty of times but, for example with SPD, if police are responding to an average of a thousand calls per week with some of those involving use of the dogs then how much do you think the media is reporting on? If you get into scanner listening you hear many instances of the police successfully disarming someone without anyone getting hurt and the media never reports any of it.
 @Citizen#3457899654 thanks for your info !.. appreciated.. great when someone does more than complain.. as Mr. H etc.. with no info, no solutions.. just gripes.. moan and groan.. so tired of it.. at every corner.. what is up with this? IDK.. LOL  anyhow. thanks..
That is what I am thinking too... the dogs aren't very good trackers.. but then again, how much scent to they have to go on? That in itself could be the problem..
it seems as if every time they use the dogs for tracking, they can't find the perp..