March 22, 2013 at 8:18 AM
Bellevue SWAT team kills man in South Seattle this morning

Officers at the scene of the shooting in South Seattle. (Photo by Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)
Updated 9:40 a.m.:
Seattle police SWAT officers have arrested a second robbery suspect during a raid in South Seattle this morning.
About 5 a.m. a Bellevue Police Department SWAT team arrived at the Columbia City home in search of several robbery suspects. Shortly after arriving, Bellevue SWAT officers fatally shot a man sitting in a car outside the home on 43rd Avenue South, near South Hudson Street, according to Bellevue police.
That man, who has not been identified, was described by Seattle police as one of three robbery suspects. Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt said that officers are still searching for the third suspect.
Seattle police said that SWAT team members entered the house just after 9:20 and arrested the second suspect.
Three male Bellevue SWAT officers are at Seattle police headquarters this morning — Seattle police are investigating the officer-involved shooting, Iafrate said. The three officers will be placed on administrative leave, as is standard procedure, Iafrate added.
Police went to the home looking for suspects involved in multiple robberies in Seattle and Bellevue. Iafrate did not have information on when the robberies occurred or how the home is related to the case.
Witt said that the two departments have been working together on the case. She said that Seattle police knew Bellevue officers were serving an arrest warrant at the home and that Seattle police robbery detectives were on scene all morning.
Juli and John Russell, who live across the street from the house, said they were startled this morning by gunfire, police yelling commands through a speaker and the sight of a man’s body on their street.
“Early this morning we heard gunshots outside of our house. A lot of voices, yelling, at like 5 in the morning,” said Juli Russell, a graphic designer. ”I was up already and when I looked out the window my husband and I saw a car crash into another car, a Bellevue SWAT vehicle and a body that was shot.”
John Russell, who works at Microsoft, said the couple “hit the floor” after hearing the gunfire outside their bedroom window.
“It was really scary,” Juli Russell added.
Juli Russell said they don’t know the people living at the house where police served the warrant.
She said they saw people in a gold Mercedes-Benz driving back and forth from the home laden with packages in recent days. She assumed they were renters moving in.
She said they live on a quiet, dead-end street, with other families with young children.
Comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: Bellevue, Burglary, death investigation
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