Police: Man robbed at gunpoint near downtown Seattle
SEATTLE - Police are looking for the man behind an armed robbery that happened on First Hill Saturday evening.
The victim told officers he was on East Union Street near Summit Avenue around 5:30 p.m. when an unknown man came up from behind, pulled out a handgun and pointed it at him.
Det. Mark Jamieson, with Seattle Police, says the suspect demanded the victim's cell phone before leaving east on East Union Street.
As he was walking away, the victim told officers the suspect turned around and pointed the gun at him one more time.
The suspect is described as a black man, between 24-27, 5'8'' to 6' tall, thin, with dreadlocks. At the time he was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, dark grey or blank pants and black gloves. The handgun he used was black.
Officers searched the area but did not find the suspect. Robbery detectives continue to investigate.
Ties in with KOMO'S other article.
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http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Minority-youth-more-often-in-state-courts-than-whites-187666291.html
How many times has this criminal been involved with the criminal justice system? Â There is an excellent chance that he should still be in jail / prison from previous crimes. Keep them in jail that is how to make this thing less common.
If he is a felon with a gun, nail him with 10 years more. Â Not to be served with the robbery sentence.
I noticed that some of the recent robberies on the streets and in small shops happened in the afternoon or early evening. These robbers are getting bolder day by day.  What is the recent ratio of arrests to these small armed robbery cases? I think these days the criminals are more confident than ever it's highly unlikely the police will be able to catch them...
I've owned a gun, and I do support gun ownership, but some folks here make me laugh. An unknown man came up from behind, pulled out a handgun and pointed it at him. Had the victim been armed, he would have been able to do what?!Â
Perhaps it would have gone something like this:Â
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KvO-8IvoCI
 @Special Force And your point being that owning guns is therefore useless?Â
snow surfer : I wouldn't say useless. I'll give you some useful examples.  Years ago, some thug was beating  the crap out of some weaker guy on a downtown street. Meanwhile, that weaker guy was able to pull out a gun and shot the SOB and killed him. Of course, he didn't get charged because it was -----> self-defense. Another example: when a home owner shoots and kills an armed intruder in his house in the middle of the night, and the shooting is justified by the police.  Â
@Special Force, well, we can armchair QB all we want, but if his hand was in his pocket when he turned around, he could have just shot the SOB, that is one thing that could have happened,Â
then there is that william shatner video on u tube that's kinda funny
Dave Lancaster : Yeah, only if the victim had been a good shot. Otherwise, we would have been reading about his death most likely.
 @Dave Lancaster  @Special Where would be the proof of the incident if the victim was armed and shot the guy? With guns, more people are simply going to shoot anyone they want and blame that the guy was going to rob him.
Some people replied with good inputs.  As the SOB walked away, he turned around and pointed the gun at the victim again. That's a life and death situation right there. Whether the SOB had been trying to threaten the victim again or kill the victim, at that time, nobody would have known including the victim. In order for the victim to defend himself right at that moment, he should have done the following.  One, he shoud have had a gun ready use, loaded, safety off. Two, he should have raised the gun and aimed at the SOB before he turned around. Three, the victim should have practiced and been able to shoot precisely at the same time as defensive maneuver.   Had he failed to do any of the above, we would have been reading about his death...
@Special Force "
Det. Mark Jamieson, with Seattle Police, says the suspect demanded the victim's cell phone before leaving east on East Union Street.
As he was walking away, the victim told officers the suspect turned around and pointed the gun at him one more time."Â
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When the man walked away, had the victim been armed he could have shot this f*** in back of the knee.Â
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I am convinced this is the same man who robbed my husband. Same location, events and description leads me to believe this. He put the gun to my husbands head demaded his wallet then asked for his cell phone. After he simply turned and casually walked away like nothing happened. Had my husband been armed he could and probably would have shot the man in the knee.Â
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just me : Yeah, the victim could have shot the SOB when he turned around and pointed the gun at him, but NEVER when the SOB walked away nor shooting back of his knee. Shooting someone in the back isn't SELF-DEFENSE! But don't feel bad. You had me nodding for a while before that shooting the back of his knee nonsense.
 @Special Force Also, what good is it going to do to shoot an armed person in the knee? They will just shoot back and then it's the wild west.Â
 @Special Force You may be right there as I do carry a CWP nor do I have gun or want one. I have not taken the time learning the laws about in regards to this. Maybe I should have done that before I posted about shooting him in the back of the knee. I will change it to shooting him in the front of the knee. Hope that is better. :)
And no one saw this robbery at that time at that location???
Step 1) Blame motivation of crimes on the weapon used (guns).
Step 2) Trade your guns in for cash from the government at a public event.
Step 3) Get robbed by criminal who still has his weapon and knows you have cash.
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Project Irony complete!
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I wonder if the victim in this case had recently traded in his gun(s)?
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What would have happened if the victim had been carrying?
@Landshark nice... Hopefully the next person this idiot tries to rob is armed!!!
Maybe if the police made a bigger deal about the man who robbed my husband at gun point with the same exact description this man would be caught. Instead we waited 2 1/2 hours for the Seattle pd to show up spend ten mins talking to my husband, laugh about it and drive away like no big deal. I hope they catch this scum bag or he tries to rob the wrong person who is also armed. These people need to get a job and buy their own s$$$
 @justme I feel your pain. A few years ago, my husband came home to find our house being robbed. The robbers' van was idling outside the gate. My husband took the keys & threw them in the bushes. One robber jumped the back fence, the other the front fence. My husband called 9-1-1 and began to pursue the robber who hopped the front fence.
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Dispatch WOULD NOT send anyone because she told my husband that as they had run off, there was no longer an active robbery in progress. He was pursuing them so that he could give dispatch his location. A neighbor drove by at the time, decided to help and followed the suspect in his car.
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Meanwhile my husband finally got a rise out of the dispatch by stating if HE caught the robber, he'd take care of him himself. THEN she sent the police (Snohomish County Sheriffs), and they came after my husband! No joke. They forced him into the back of the car, told our neighbor to "move along" while our neighbor was telling them where he'd last seen the robber.
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They chatted a while amongst themselves (4 Snohomish County Sheriffs now), and finally sent someone ON FOOT, to walk around the immediate area. Just to shine us on.
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Never taking it seriously until they got a dispatch on their radios (wait for it....) saying that just down the road at the convenience store, a "suspect" had stolen a green mini van and was heading West to I5. JUST a short jog through the woods from the road our neighbor had JUST told them he had last seen the robber. (Hand slap to forehead)
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After losing the stolen van in the chase on I5, where an off-duty Montlake Terrace police officer responded, but couldn't keep up in his older Bronco, they finally let my husband out at our house...right next to the get-away van FULL OF STOLEN goods from a good long day of stealing.
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Then, instead of doing anything with the evidence: van, stacks and stacks of stolen credit cards, debit cards (they had them nicely organized: debit cards in the hand hold in the door handle, ID's in he ash tray...), ID's, video store cards, tools, etc. Along with a cell phone, cooler full of beer in the center of the front seats, etc. They called the owner of the van to come pick it up. (What?!)
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Shocker; the owner had reported it stolen earlier in the day - yeah right. Instead the owner decided they didn't want to come get it (shocker again). So, the police called a tow truck to take it to impound.
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Needless to say I was appalled. By then I had unknowingly arrived home with my youngest, who had nightmares for years due to the violation. And all we could do was ask the tow truck driver when he arrived, after all the cops had left, to at least let my husband look through the van for his stuff. Which he did.
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Disgusting, huh?
I sure hope that gun was registered, and that this man had a proper background check done. We can't just have criminals out there running around all willy nilly with a gun without them having to go through the proper procedures to obtain it you know. That would just be wrong. (smell the sarcasm?)
 @Harley-H.S.C. If we had guns with features to disable their use by unauthorized persons, we wouldn't have to be so scared of illegal guns.Â
@Harley-H.S.C.  well, if he stole it a few years ago, we can hope it has one of those safe 10 round magazines in it, and not those evil hi cap 17 rounders
Why I stay out of Seattle in the evenings, and why I am always carrying. You never know when having your own defense will be necessary. Although a cell phone isn't worth the violence a gun would bring to the elevated issue.Â
 @CaliGirl@Heart He would shoot you the moment he saw you reaching for a gun. Â
@CaliGirl@Heart you may want to include the day time as well. This man does not care when. He robbed my husband at 7 am. 12th and Jefferson same description
 @CaliGirl@Heart If you worked for it then its worth it. If he wanted my phone and he pullled a gun i would shoot him.
 @futhi151  @CaliGirl@Heart  @Heart He may shoot you as well. I have CWP but if he wanted my  me cell he could have it. Escalating something like this I would not risk my own life.Â
Drugs or gangs, take your pick. Aren't both awesome.Â
There it is again. Maybe we should ban hooded sweat shirts since they are associated with alot of crime around here. Glad KOMO staff didn't write the article or no true description would have been known. Educated guesses by infomed posters usually know the perp description from the headline.
@Good guy bad thoughts well, hooded sweatshirts and baggy pants scare me, they have no need of them! we should have a civic trade in, for a good cap, and some good fitting levis
That's OK, McGoo knows what to do, ban guns so only the criminals have them! That will make us safer!
 @NWCoin Who said that all guns are going to be banned? Calm down, gun owners of America. You are safe.Â
 @NWCoin A lot of criminals are walking around with stolen guns taken from "law abiding gun owners" because there are that many guns in circulation in America.Â
@Citizen#3457899654 this is true, but when the law abiding citizens have to turn theirs in , or can no longer buy them. they criminal element will still have an inventory, and be free from fearing any armed resistance. It sounds like removing guns from law abiding people, only makes their lives more dangerous.
 @Citizen#3457899654 And when we are all disarmed then facing someone larger or with a club, knife, or accomplice things will be so much better? Not to mention the disparity in power if only governments are armed.