Video shows East Precinct officers back down after bystanders step in over heavy response to Capitol Hill ‘shots fired’ 911 calls
Reports of gunfire and yelling in the street Wednesday night near 12th and Mercer led to a tense situation with East Precinct officers taking aim on an unarmed person in crisis before deciding to r…
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Posted on Thursday, February 2, 2023 - 5:24 pm by jseattle
Reports of gunfire and yelling in the street Wednesday night near 12th and Mercer led to a tense situation with East Precinct officers taking aim on an unarmed person in crisis before deciding to retreat from the scene when a crowd of bystanders gathered.
The quickly formed and instantly tense standoff is an example of how fast a police response to a 911 report involving a gun can escalate and also shows how perceptions of police in a standoff situation have shifted after repeated incidents like the killing of Tyre Nichols.
Video of Wednesday’s incident sent to CHS after it was recorded around 7 PM at 11th and Mercer shows four minutes of the short standoff as police took their position up the dark street and one officer aimed his rifle, commanding the upset subject to drop any weapon and get on the ground. The confusing scene continued with police yelling commands as concerned bystanders told the officers to back off.
“We’re much more scared of the fukking police in this situation than this guy,” one person yells. “Can you guys fukking calm down? Calm the fukk down.”
According to East Precinct radio updates, police had been dispatched to the area after a 911 caller reported a gunshot and a second caller reported two shots along with somebody yelling, “Everybody is going to die.”
But people at the scene told police there was no shooting and no gun — only a young person in a yellow sweater upset and suffering a crisis.
“Having just had a pretty close look at him, I hadn’t seen a gun, and he and I both yelled at the police that he didn’t have any gun,” the witness who recorded the video tells CHS. “A woman across the street echoed our statement. I was scared of being caught in police gunfire and moved to the side and started filming, as did several other bystanders.”
According to radio updates, officers at the scene reported bystanders were “actively hindering” their response and asked for permission to back down.
“We’re going to go ahead and disengage,” one officer says, confirming the response found no victim and no shell casings in the area, only “20 bystanders with four surrounding the suspect.”
As the person in the yellow sweater sat down and put his hands in the air, police began to leave the scene.
“The cops eventually decided he wasn’t a threat or wasn’t worth the bad publicity and left,” the witness who contacted CHS said. “There were three police cars and at least four officers on scene. I was told by one witness afterwards that the precipitating incident had been the victim slapping the stop sign on the corner, the victim told me he had gotten in an argument and went outside to cool off. He was listening to music on a bluetooth speaker, which is what the cops perceived to be a gun. He was terrified and sobbing when it was all over.”
CHS has asked SPD for more information on the incident and their response.
UPDATE: Here is the report on the incident provided by SPD —
