Deadly Seattle shooting spree

Report: Man went shopping after murder spree

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 14:13:04 +0000

A man police said killed 5 people and injured one stopped at a West Seattle nursery for some purchases that he then left at a friend’s house before later killing himself.

According to the West Seattle Blog, Stawicki stopped at West Seattle Nursery shortly before 2 p.m. on Wednesday, a few hours after he shot five people in Ravenna and then a woman on First Hill.

An employee at the nursery said he purchased a blueberry plant and some sunflower seeds and noticed that he was kind of “creepy.”

Corinne Kennedy was the employee who helped Stawicki pick the plant out.

"I got a little bit of a weird vibe. Not violent, but more like he was indecisive and insecure," said Kennedy.

That cashier didn't know at the time what Stawicki had done or that police were looking for him, as his photo was not distributed until an hour later.

Stawicki then left the plant, seeds and the receipt at the home of an old acquaintance along with a note.

The recipient of the gift later called the nursery, frantic.

"I just explained to her, 'well, it's a gift. You should just try to enjoy it if you can.' And her last words were, 'No, it's not that kind of gift,'" said employee Ingrid Nokes.

No one in the shop knew at the time that a killer was on the loose. Now, with proof Stawicki was in their shop, they're experiencing a kind of shock.

"What if he had done something here at the nursery? I just can't even fathom it," said manager Marcia Bruno.

The nursery manager found out Stawicki was in the shop only after detectives told her they found the customer copy of the receipt. Police won't say what was in the note Stawicki left with the friend.

Stawicki later shot and killed himself in West Seattle at 37^th and Raymond streets as police closed in.

Seattle shooter had permit for 6 handguns

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:18:06 +0000

KIRO 7 uncovered evidence Thursday that revealed Ian Stawicki, the gunman in the May 30 Seattle shootings, was no stranger to violence, guns or the law.

When Seattle police arrested him in 2008, officers filled out a form for the court objecting to his release. According to those documents, officers said releasing him would threaten public safety.

Instead of keeping him locked up, the Seattle City Attorney dismissed all the charges, and it wasn’t the first time.

In February 2008, Stawicki’s girlfriend at the time was granted a no-contact order against him after “he broke the rear window of the victim’s vehicle, prevented the victim from calling 911 and assaulted her, giving her a bloody nose in the process,” according to court documents. “Stawicki (then) armed himself with a (.45 caliber) handgun and led police on a K9 track through Discovery Park.”

Stawicki was charged with assault, interfering with reporting domestic violence and coercion.

Despite police concerns about his weapon use and a witness that told officers “over the past month, the suspect has grown violent,” according to court documents, all charges were dismissed. The City Attorney said Thursday that was because his girlfriend stopped cooperating in the case.

“He definitely had that propensity for anger and was often tied up in knots with his nervous energy,” said Sandra Roulette, Stawicki’s ex-girlfriend’s mother.

Roulette told KIRO 7 her daughter left town after seeing what her former live-in boyfriend did on Wednesday.

“What Ian did is unthinkable and horrific, but the Ian that I saw on occasion was also – had this other dimension to him,” Roulette said. “He was a kind and thoughtful person. I didn’t see this potential for violence, although I certainly knew that he was angry and had a particular world view that not many people could agree with.”

She said her daughter lived with Stawicki for years, but the day he punched her in the face with a phone book in 2008 was the last day they were together.

“I was so angry with him and supported her for not wanting to be around him,” Roulette said. “I helped her move away. I’m very thankful he didn’t hurt her. I am so grateful he did not hurt her yesterday.”

KIRO Team 7 Investigators learned Stawicki’s run-ins with police started well before the domestic assault on Roulette’s daughter.

In 1989, he was arrested in Seattle for carrying a “slide-out locking blade,” according to court documents. Charges of carrying a concealed weapon were dropped.

In Kittitas County in 2010, Stawicki was charged with assaulting his brother. Charges were dropped then, too.

Despite those arrests for violence and weapons issues, without any convictions, Stawicki was allowed to keep his concealed weapons permit. Records show that at the time he opened fire inside the Racer Café on Wednesday, he legally held permits for three .45 caliber handguns and three more 9 millimeter handguns.

Roulette said he was always armed.

“He saw the world as a potentially dangerous place -- an unfriendly place where bad things happened -- and he felt like he needed to be protected, so he was armed and ready to take care of things himself, protect himself if need be,” she said.

Another common theme that ran through all the police reports: Stawicki constantly listed himself as homeless or unemployed.

Community gathers to remember Seattle shooting victims

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:04:02 +0000

Many will gathered Saturday afternoon to remember the five people who were killed in Wednesday’s shooting spree at two Seattle locations.

About 200 people attended the gathering outside of Café Racer in Ravenna for the victims and to speak out against violence.

Wednesday’s shooting started at Café Racer in the University District, when a man shot five people inside, police said. Only one of the five survived. After that incident, the man fatally shot a woman in downtown Seattle. The gunman, Ian Stawicki, then turned the gun on himself and died Wednesday evening.

Police shut down the road to traffic due to the number of people at the memorial.

Candles, flowers and notes have been placed in front of Café Racer since the shooting.

On Friday evening, mourners were invited to a public service held at Seattle’s St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, and at St. James Catholic Cathedral.

Patricia Patterson, a mourner, told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News she was more concerned about the wave of shootings in the area.

“I have always found that prayer is very helpful,” Patterson said. “I’m tremendously concerned and wonder how many more times something like this has to happen before we will truly come together as a society and address the big issues at hand.”

Friends and families of the victims were in attendance. Don Largen was one of the victims who died at Café Racer and KIRO 7 reporter Alison Grande spoke with his brother Dean Largen.

“Shows how loved these people were and are in our hearts, and that we have to continue. Like they said, ‘To help people with problems, help with the violence and try and do something about this.

The Largen family told KIRO 7 they donated Don’s organs. They also so the size of the crowd at Saturday’s memorial showed how much the victims were loved.

Largen’s brother Kenny Largen said he was angry about the shooting and with the gunman.

A city-wide memorial will be held starting at 6 p.m. at St. Mark’s Cathedral and the procession will end at St. James Cathedral. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and different religious leaders will be in attendance.

On Sunday evening, there will be a benefit concert at 8 p.m. in the alley behind Café Racer to help raise money for the victim’s families.

Operators reveal what happened during 911 calls of Roosevelt shooting

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 00:58:23 +0000

The 911 dispatchers who handled phone calls from Wednesday’s shooting at Café Racer told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News their story on what happened during the incident.

Leah Smothers was one of the operators on duty at the Seattle Police Dispatch Center in the West Precinct in downtown when she handled the shooting calls from the public.

“You know that officer safety is key,” Smothers said. “So you want to know weapons, you want to know direction of travel, you want suspect description, and you want to know if there are any injuries.”

Another 911 dispatcher, Teresa Marple, was working to relay information directly to officers on the way to the scene.

“This event was so fast,” Marple said. “And there was so much talking by all of the units, initially, and all of the people going and what they needed and what they wanted.”

Operators at the center understand that there are times where, to the general public, the dispatcher seems to be more focused on gathering details than sending units out.

This was one of the phone calls taken from Wednesday:

911 Dispatcher: 911, What are you reporting?

Caller: I’m at Roosevelt and 59^th, Café Racer, there’s been a shooting. Somebody came in and shot a bunch of people. So I’m hiding in the bathroom.

Caller: The guy is gone, so I’m going to go back out.

911 Dispatcher: What do you mean the guy is gone? How do you know?

Caller: Look, look. People are bleeding all over.

911 Dispatcher: Sir, I’m not the one driving out there, so please answer my questions. This is serious, OK? How do you know if he’s gone if you didn’t see him?

During that conversation, multiple officers and medic units were already dispatched.

“For that call taker, that’s a technique she uses to gather information, try to calm the caller down,” Marple said. “’Focus on my voice, focus on what I’m asking you.’”

Despite the situation, dispatchers are to remain calm.

Father of gunman says son had mental health problems

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:09:47 +0000

The father of the man who went on a shooting rampage on Wednesday spoke with KIRO 7 Eyewitness News and said his son was mentally ill.

Ian Stawicki, 41, killed five people in a shooting spree at two Seattle locations, police said. As officers got close to Stawicki, he shot himself and died Wednesday night at Harborview Medical Center.

Walter Stawicki, Ian Stawicki’s father, told KIRO 7 reporter Graham Johnson that his son had a negative view of the world.

“I don’t think he was paranoid out to get people, he just thought the world was a dangerous place,” said Walter Stawicki. “I think he was overwhelmed by a lot of ugliness and brutality of this world.

Stawicki thought his son was bipolar and tried getting help for him, but his family gave up.

Stawicki believes his son’s mental health problems intensified in the years before Wednesday’s shooting spree. In 1989, a grenade exploded near Ian Stawicki in a trench during Army training, nearly ruining his hearing.

“He never got out of the base training. He was cut loose. He and the military didn’t see eye-to-eye. He thought it was a loose organization. They thought he was a loose cannon to some degree,” Walter Stawicki said.

Stawicki talked to his son on the phone Wednesday morning, thinking he sounded well. Hours after the conversation, his wife saw a picture of his son on the news and called police.

Stawicki said despite his son’s mental problems, he didn’t think Ian Stawicki would hurt anyone.

Walter Stawicki used to be a gun retailer and said his son has had a concealed carry permit since he was old enough to get one. In a 2008 misdemeanor case, court documents indicated his son had six registered guns. He now thinks his son recently acquired new weapons.

Man who fought Seattle gunman tells SPD, 'I wasn't a hero'

Thu, 31 May 2012 23:11:52 +0000

A man named Lawrence was credited by Seattle police Thursday with perhaps preventing more bloodshed in Wendesday's deadly shootings at Cafe Racer on Roosevelt Way, but told the Seattle Police Department the hero of the day was a wounded employee who called 911.

The department posted an interview with Lawrence, who asked that his last name not be used, to their blog Thursday afternoon.

Lawrence said he's been getting his morning coffee at Cafe Racer for years and was sitting inside when gunman Ian Stawicki walked in at about 11 a.m.

"Just before it happened, I was looking at [Stawicki]," Lawrence told police. "He'd just been told he was 86'd [from the cafe] in a very polite manner."

He said he looked down at his phone and heard the "pop, pop" of gunshots. Lawrence grabbed a bar stool and used it to try to fight Stawicki and defend his friends in the cafe.

"I just threw the frigging stool at him, legs first," Lawrence said. "My brother died in the World Trade Center. I promised myself [that if something like this ever happened] I would never hide under a table."

He said that Stawicki "looked at me like he didn't care at all," moved toward the rear of the bar, and left him alone.

More information is availble on the SPD Blotter.

Seattle police release 911 audio in May 30 shootings

Thu, 31 May 2012 21:53:46 +0000

The Seattle Police Department released audio Thursday of 911 calls and police radio chatter exchanged during Wednesday's fatal shootings on Roosevelt Way and in Seattle's First Hill neighborhood.

911 call from Cafe Racer (where the first shooting happened)
911 call from 8th and Seneca (where a woman was fatally shot)
West Seattle audio from SPD officer