Woman arrested after shooting at Parks Dept. facility
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SEATTLE -- A woman suspected of shooting a 65-year-old man at a Seattle Parks maintenance center just north of Green Lake has been arrested, Seattle Police said, ending a region-wide hunt.
Carolyn Piksa was taken into custody at her Burien home just before 5 p.m.
The shooting took place three hours earlier in the Seattle Park Department's Densmore Maintenance Facility near the intersection of North 80th Street and Densmore, about two blocks north of Green Lake.
Piksa, a Seattle Parks employee, met with some other employees at the facility, pulled out a gun and shot the 65-year-old man before leaving the scene, said Deputy Chief Nick Metz with Seattle Police.
The victim was rushed to Harborview Medical Center in critical but stable condition with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was identified as Bill Keller, the executive director of the Associated Recreation Council, a nonprofit group that works with Seattle Parks Department.
Metz said the shooter didn't target any other employee.
"I don't know if she went there with (Keller) in mind, but when she got there he was the only one she shot," he said.
Piksa then went to the Bitter Lake Community Center, at 13530 Linden Ave. N., about two miles north of the shooting scene, Metz said. There, she confronted an employee with a handgun and exchanged words but left without incident, police said.
There weren't immediate details of what she told that employee, Metz said.
The shooting prompted the city to shut down all community centers and put nearby schools on high alert. A spokesman for the Seattle Parks Department said Piksa had keys to many of the city's community centers, and all of them were placed in lockdown as a precaution.
Police used cellphone intelligence to track Piksa to her Burien home. A SWAT team arrived at the house just before 5 p.m. and set up containment, Metz said.
Using a bullhorn, officers told Piksa to come out of the house, which she did moments later, unarmed.
"She immediately came out of the house without incident," Metz said. "She was not armed and was taken to the Seattle police department's homicide unit."
Officers are searching Piksa's home, but they've yet to find a weapon, Metz said.
All parks facilities and events will be on a normal schedule Saturday, Mayor Mike McGinn said.
Carolyn Piksa was taken into custody at her Burien home just before 5 p.m.
The shooting took place three hours earlier in the Seattle Park Department's Densmore Maintenance Facility near the intersection of North 80th Street and Densmore, about two blocks north of Green Lake.
Piksa, a Seattle Parks employee, met with some other employees at the facility, pulled out a gun and shot the 65-year-old man before leaving the scene, said Deputy Chief Nick Metz with Seattle Police.
The victim was rushed to Harborview Medical Center in critical but stable condition with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was identified as Bill Keller, the executive director of the Associated Recreation Council, a nonprofit group that works with Seattle Parks Department.
Metz said the shooter didn't target any other employee.
"I don't know if she went there with (Keller) in mind, but when she got there he was the only one she shot," he said.
 Carolyn Piksa |
There weren't immediate details of what she told that employee, Metz said.
The shooting prompted the city to shut down all community centers and put nearby schools on high alert. A spokesman for the Seattle Parks Department said Piksa had keys to many of the city's community centers, and all of them were placed in lockdown as a precaution.
Police used cellphone intelligence to track Piksa to her Burien home. A SWAT team arrived at the house just before 5 p.m. and set up containment, Metz said.
Using a bullhorn, officers told Piksa to come out of the house, which she did moments later, unarmed.
"She immediately came out of the house without incident," Metz said. "She was not armed and was taken to the Seattle police department's homicide unit."
Officers are searching Piksa's home, but they've yet to find a weapon, Metz said.
All parks facilities and events will be on a normal schedule Saturday, Mayor Mike McGinn said.
Notice all the gun stories on KOMO and yet not one word about obama running around trying to make the cuts as painful as possible.
@2times yawn...probably because it's of little relevance.Â
ARC and Parks Department work together to provide programs for all ages. When you go to your local Community Center you see 1st hand the partnership, though you may not even know it. I ask you all PLEASE pray for Bill Keller and his family. Pray for Zoom and her family and that she gets the care that she needs. Pray for the Community Center Staff and the ARC staff to help them through this trying time. Thank the police, fire department, your local school, community center and anyone else that you can think of that took the appropriate messures to make sure that everyone at the centers, schools, neighbor hoods, day cares and any other place that was in lock down safe until danger was gone.Â
soo, umm.. is there a job opening at the Parks Dpt?Â
(too soon?)Â
@everyoneelse In EXTREMELY poor taste!  Thumbs down!
@everyoneelse not funny
So she allegedly shot this fellow and then just went home? Â Strange. Â Hope he makes a full recovery.
@Doxie  Per the article her next stop was the Bitter Lake Recreational Center
were she confronted a Park Dept. employee with a hand gun but fortunately noÂ
shots were fired during that encounter. Then home?????
@pete1427 @Doxie Just strange that she'd go right where they'd be looking for her.
This is particularly heart wrenching, because ARC is an organization that helps people with developmental and other disabilities. One of their services is work opportunities with the Parks Dept., which is probably why Bill was there. We still don't know if he was involved or just in the wrong place. Regardless, the clients of this organization will no doubt feel very confused and sad. Many of them will feel scared. I sure hope he makes it and has a good recovery.
That's the truth I use to work for Seattle Parks Dept. For over 30 years. And sometimes empolyee's are pushed to far and this is what happen. It's so much "unfairness and favoritism" and the boss's are always right in reality they are 90% wrong.I knew this young lady and she had a heart helping low income children in the Southend of Seattle. Zoom give a 100% of her time doing a great job for the Seattle Parks Dept. I disagree how Zoom acted out her frustration. But what drove her to the point it had to be very bad.
@Carea HederÂ
Why is she called "Zoom"?
@Carea Heder  Â
According to the article the man she shot was not a even Park DepartmentÂ
employee, but he was the executive director of a nonprofit group called
the Associated Recreational Council. The group is reported to work with
the Seattle Parks Department. I seriously doubt that any such outside agency
could actually control any actions made by or within the Seattle Parks Dept.
 The reason for this shooting may be eventually revealed, either by the shooter,Â
or the victim. That is only true if one of them actually talks about the reason.
We, the public. may never know the how come and what for regarding this
shooting.
What ever the reason, the use of a firearm is not a way to solve a dispute
unless its on a national scale (like in a war between nations, or if TSHTF).
@Carea Heder Well, ya know, you are correct - sometimes employees *are* pushed too far, unfairness, favoritism, crazy bosses etc - but ya know what, ya leave, ya don't show up & start shooting!!!  Been in this situation, with a totally crazy boss, accused of things I didn't do ---  I just silently went out & found a MUCH better job.  As they say, the best revenge is living well.  It's NEVER ok to shoot bosses or other people because they are nuts, dysfunctional, etc.  You just go do something better.  So--she is a criminal for shooting!  Even if her boss was totally unfair, crazy etc.  This was NOT the way to handle that!
There's more to this story that we are not hearing.
@Ankle Biter Theres always more. But you get 20 people in a room and give them limited information and they immediately start jumping to conclusions, especially when they don't have to argue face to face.
Must have been a super slow news day to have spent as much time on this story as they did on the 6 o'clock news. Unfortunately people are shot frequently and very rarely is any where near as much time given to them. Totally overblown.
@kangaroo Senior parks employees, every parks center a potential target, a city-wide announcement goes out... you're going to get PR. The press helped get the word out, getting directly involved with the shooter's capture. It's not that hard to see why this gets more air time.
Wonder if she usually takes meds and just went off them? Like some people do when taking life long medication. Hope the police are able to find out why she did this and get her the help she needs.Â
No, Zoom worked for parks dept. for over 27 years and a person do not have to be on medication to do something like this. There's a point in life when a person can only take so much! Yes it was wrong how Zoom handle it . But what's more important what drove her to this point? So this kind of thing DO NOT HAPPEN AGAIN!!
caught at home? she had no intention of running - wonder what the story was - sounds more like a relationship gone bad
Glad they caught this monster. She sure doesnt look like one, but thats proof you cant judge a book by its cover. Hope they hit her hard and swift. They should do the same thing to her!
I'm just glad they got her and quick like.
She better hope that guy survives. I guess she didn't have the guts to kill herself, just others.Â
Since ya all thrive on crime.. http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/ctid/2974/web
Listen live to the King County & Seattle Police.
@PlumBUSTED! hey that is a cool site.  it works on my cell, now i dont need to buy a police scanner.
@PlumBUSTED! thrive? what r u nuts?its happening regardless of the looky lues . people dont understand how else to prove the inability to survive. -- to get their point across? dont forget romnie said... people feel the government owes them food... how is that not scary ? attitude alone needs to be understood.
@maggie112Â @PlumBUSTED! Just out of curiosity, when you read back what you typed awhile ago, does it make sense to you?
Hope the man recovers fully from his wounds. Some people apparently are too self centered to accept any kind of disappointment or setback in their lives, without blaming others enough to harm them. Â
Gosh we can already see the bang up job the NRA and Glock have been doing in marketing the idea of guns for women, as something sexy and powerful. Â
Check out the gallery. Photo #5, meth dealer. Gotta be.
Well NRA... where do you suppose she got her gun...Ill bet she bought it legally. Yes we finally have our justification to crack down on gun registration now that a responsible person has shot someone else.
The argument that criminals only shoot people just went down the toilet.
@nwlib Oh, it happens all over the country and is either under NRA pressure to be under reported or is so garden variety in some places that they wouldn't report it anyway.Â
@nwlib The fact she apparently shot this man unprovoked makes her a criminal. Gun registration would have prevented this how?
@nwlib Oh but ask the NRA and Glock and the other gun marketers.. Guns are sexy and cute in women's clutch purses!  And we can get them with rhinestones on them, with matching purses. Guns mean power and sexiness for women, didn't you know that?  I mean.. it's not like owning a gun, as a female, means that you are 50x more likely to be murdered by a gun at the hands of a spouse, or have it used by your kids or yourself to commit suicide.  Guns are cute and sexy for women... right?  (TOTAL sarcasm. the new marketing campaign to sell more guns to women like they're fashion accessories makes me nauseous.)Â
@DT @nwlib Nancy Reagan had one of these in her purse - said it was "cute"..  Really??????
@DTÂ @nwlib Yeah, I want to see those ads. I've yet to see the matching pistol and purse set.
@IlBrutto13 @DT @nwlib Personally I liked that pretty 9mm wrapped up in the heart shaped box. Nothing says I love you like a 9mm. LOL.Â
@DTÂ @nwlib Please post the links to these advertisements so we all can analyze them ourselves.
@swatspyder @DT @nwlib Shes already enjoying the obama economy given how she inflated the already bogus stat of 41 times to now a nice round 50 times.  Its getting rather comical to read DT's posts as she devolves into crazy land.
@nwlib Nice post. I'm sending the NRA another $20.00 in your honor.
@Madclown @nwlib Your 20 bucks will look nice next to their million dollar contributions from gun manufacturers.Â
@dg54321 @SeattleJoe @DT @swatspyder Agreed.
@SeattleJoe @DT @swatspyder I think of it this way. They can post what they want. Everyone knows the score by now. They will never take our rights away, and they are failing in almost every arena on this subject. Let them rant as they are largely ineffective. The people want to retain their right to keep and bear arms, and keep the government out of it. All the noise you hear to the contrary are the words of a very vocal minority.
@DT @swatspyder "MORE gun deaths and injuries"
Interestingly you have posted this bs on several occasions and each time someone comes a long and post cdc data, fbi data, etc that shows this to be bs. Yet you keep posting it. Do you think that if you post it enough times it will suddenly become true?
@lakeview @Madclown @nwlibhaha I knew you and your ilk couldn't refuse an NRA comment.Â
@DTÂ @swatspyder Citation please.
@swatspyder the NRA is nothing more than a lobbyist firm for the gun makers. That is their only mission. Sell more guns. and gosh, after the massive explosion of gun purchases since the fear mongering in 2008, there are MORE gun deaths and injuries.  Did NOT make us safer, made us less safe. The overall crime rate has plummeted since the 90s... but shootings are up. Wonder why.Â
@the tide @swatspyder @lakeview @Madclown @nwlib Right, you mean customers who like to own and use firearms.
@swatspyder Yes the circle of stupidity is complete.Â
@swatspyder @lakeview @Madclown @nwlib From total suckers who believe in the NRA scare tactics.
@lakeview @Madclown @nwlib And where do the gun manufacturers get their money... hmm