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Gun shots (or something like it) heard in Green Lake last night

What do you think? (13 Comments) January 25, 2010 at 4:07PM

Several Green Lake residents reported hearing what sounded to be gunfire last night (Sunday, January 24) in Green Lake:

Hey @MyGreenLake do you know anything about the gunshots we heard about 20 minutes ago near #greenlake? – tweeted at about 10:30 p.m.

Anybody else hear gunshots at #greenlake tonight?! Or am I just paranoid and losing my mind? – tweeted at about 11:45 p.m.

We heard 5-6 gunshots last night @ 10pm on the North end of the lake. – sent to us this morning via our tip form.

We’ve done a bit of digging and we’re happy to report that we are fairly certain that there were no gun shots fired in the neighborhood last night.

We asked the awesome Jonah Spangenthal-Lee over at SeattleCrime.com if he had heard news of anything happening in Green Lake, and after checking 9-1-1 call logs as well as reviewing the police scanner, he found nothing relating to our neighborhood.

Tracy Record of the West Seattle Blog reported that she had also received “lots” of reports of “fireworks-sounding-like-shots” last night.  She has an interesting theory (which we are inclined to believe explains the noise in Green Lake as well):  perhaps the “shots” heard across the city were simply fireworks being lit in celebration of the New Orleans Saints’ overtime victory over the Minnesota Vikings?

Who knew there were so many Saints fans in Green Lake?

Update, January 25, 7:30 p.m.: Greenwood residents have been hearing gun-shot-esque sounds as well.  This from PhinneyWood:

My husband and I have been awakened twice in the past two weeks to what vividly sounded like gunshots very early morning. It sounded like it was coming from somewhere between 85th/90th and Greenwood.

Update, January 26, 4:00 p.m.: We received the following from Dan Quirk, who actually witnessed fireworks going off on Sunday night at the time of the noise disturbance:

I live near 80th and Corliss (NE area of the lake) and I heard the series of “pops” on Sunday night at roughly 10:00 p.m. – and can confirm that it was not gunfire.  When I heard the noise I looked outside and saw fireworks exploding in the air between Meridian Ave. N. and Stroud Ave. N. a block or two south of 80th.  I also attributed this to the Saints’ overtime win.

Thanks, Dan!

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What do you think? (13 Comments)
  • sa

    Hmm. I have to disagree on the Saint's victory theory. Perhaps is was loud cries and moaning due to the Vikings loss.

  • STM

    I heard the gunshots as well around 10:30 p.m. or so. It did not sound at all like fireworks. I live on the east side of Green Lake and the sound was quite clear. It made me nervous.

  • mygreenlake

    Thanks for the extra info, STM. Interesting to hear that they didn't sound like fireworks, and also interesting that you heard them on the east side of Green Lake, as the other reports came from the north and northwest.

    We'll keep an eye out for more info – thanks again for providing this extra bit of data.

  • J&R

    I agree with STM. Didn't sound like fireworks. Sounded like 5-6 gunshots. We live on the Northeast side of the lake. Very loud, very loud, and sounded closeby.

  • Aware

    If they were gunshots, it doesn't seem like anyone called them in to 911. My reasoning: a neighbor reported a car prowl in progress on Phinney Ridge at 10:15pm Sunday night and there were 3 Seattle Police units there within 5 minutes. Given the prioritization of gunshots over car prowls, and the fact that 3 patrol units was probably the entire North Precinct on duty that night, they sure weren't busy looking for shooters of any sort.

  • Greenwood Neighbor

    I am the one who posted hearing “gunshots” in Greenwood. They were not at 10pm. They were around 4 or 5 in the morning. Fireworks…really??

  • Greenwood Neighbor

    I am the one who posted hearing “gunshots” in Greenwood. They were not at 10pm. They were around 4 or 5 in the morning. Fireworks…really??