By KOMO Staff

RENTON, Wash. — A teen was slashed in the face during a fight at Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park on Friday evening, according to police.

Police said the incident happened around 6:30 p.m. during a fight between several teens. One of the teens pulled out a large knife or machete and slashed the face of the victim, they said.

The victim was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. His name is not known.

Police did not have a suspect in custody and were interviewing witnesses for clues.

From the comments on my blog entry yesterday, it sounds like some readers witnessed the transit center stabbing. In today’s press release, the Police are asking you to please give them a call so that they can document your first-hand memories of the events.

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Press Release

Investigation Update – Renton Transit Center Stabbing

Renton Police Detectives are continuing to investigate last night’s stabbing by interviewing eye witnesses and reviewing the video tape from the city’s security system in the Transit Center.

It is believed that more than one person was armed with a knife at the time of the assault. It is also likely that our 73 year-old victim had a knife in his possession at one point.

Currently the 73 year-old victim is in stable condition. The second victim’s injuries were not life threatening.

If you witnessed this incident, we ask that you call Sergeant Tracy Merrill at 425-430-7527.

Kevin Milosevich
Chief of Police
425-430-7503

Benson Hill residents should be encouraged by this email we just received from Mayor Law. This was some really great police work!

__________________________________________________________
Dear Council Members,

Renton Police Officer Eric Gordon did some great police work for our new
residents in the Benson Hill/Cascade neighborhood. He responded to a residential
burglary yesterday where thousands of dollars in jewelry and other items were
taken. Several hours later, he made a routine traffic stop on a van and noticed
items that were described in the earlier burglary. The victim of the burglary
was able to positively identify the merchandise, resulting in the arrest of two
suspects. And a follow-up interview by Sgt. Todd Frazier helped to recover more
stolen items that had been taken from a neighboring home.

Another huge benefit for our new residents who are now receiving quality police
service!

Hope you have a nice weekend.
Denis

Can any of you Rentonites think of a reason for headphone jacks to be taped to a can of spray paint, other than someone trying to create a suspicious looking object?

Here is an email I received today:

>>> Susan Campbell 04/01/08 10:32 AM >>>

The Renton Police Dept was called to the Airport this morning to investigate a suspicious looking object which had been found in the Boeing Employee Flying Club parking lot late yesterday. After x-raying the object, the Port of Seattle determined the object to be non-threatening, and dismantled it. It turned out to be a full spray paint can with headphone jacks taped to the outside with duct tape.

If I receive any more information on this, I will forward it to you.

Thanks,
Susan

Note: This is a different incident than the double-shooting at the Jack in the Box described in the blog below

RENTON, Wash. — A man was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after being shot during a robbery attempt on Monday night.

Police spokesman Penny Bartley said a 911 call led police to the 3000 block of Royal Hills Drive SE around 7:20 p.m.

They arrived to find the 39-year-old Seattle man, whose name has not been released, shot in the back and lying near his car.

An officer on the scene said the man was conscious when police arrived; however, he was taken to Harborview Medical Center in dire condition.

It is not known what the thief or thieves were after. Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

They searching for three men whom they believe fled on foot from the scene of the shooting. Detectives are working to determine their relationship to the victim. A description of the men was not available.

Link to KOMO here

From: “Denis Law” <dlaw@ci.renton.wa.us> Date: February 26, 2008 3:57:37 PM PST
To: “Don Persson” <dpersson@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Greg Taylor” <gtaylor@ci.renton.wa.us>, “King Parker” <kparker@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Marcie Palmer” <mpalmer@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Randy Corman” <rcorman@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Rich Zwicker” <rzwicker@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Terri Briere” <tbriere@ci.renton.wa.us>
Cc: “Jay Covington” <jcovington@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Julia Medzegian” <jmedzegian@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Kevin Milosevich” <kmilosevich@ci.renton.wa.us>
Subject: Fwd: Homicide Arrest

Dear Councilmembers.
A suspect has been arrested in the homicide case, thanks to the great work by our detectives. They have recovered a gun and gathered other vital evidence that will help with the prosecution of this case. The suspect was known to the victim and is well known by our officers.

Denis

Milosevich, Kevin(Kevin Milosevich) 2/26/2008 11:18 AM >>>

We arrested our suspect in Tacoma this morning. I will provide the details at staff.

Reader Mark Martinez suggested I post a blog on this news item, to see if Renton readers have any reactions they wish to share.

I was at city hall visiting with Mayor Law when the news first broke on this tragedy (it was right after the transportation meeting I blogged about below), and our first shared comments were that it was another serious human tragedy, rooted in mental illness, and it seemed clear that the police could not have done anything any quicker.

As the news has unfolded over the last few days, it is clear that the shooter was a very complex young man, who was indeed struggling with emotional issues. It sounds like he had engaged and caring parents, who made their best efforts to get him treatment. And today’s story indicates he also had a loving girlfriend, who cared about him. It is incredibly sad, but very common, that even with so many people who loved him, and professional treatment providers, their efforts were not enough to save him from his demons; and far more tragic that in his psychosis he killed and injured so many innocents before he took his own life.

It sounds like the gun that did most of the damage was a shotgun, that has a legitimate use for hunting. There were no exotic automatic weapons to blame in this case. And the police were there quickly, but not before all the damage was done. The shooter had already killed 5 and injured 18, and taken his own life in mere minutes if not seconds. There was no claimed “cautious holding-back” by the police that has been the subject of debate in other school shooting situations.

So, I’m sad to say that if there is a lesson to be learned, it may be that not all human tragedies are preventable in a free nation. This one initially looks like everyone except the shooter did everything right, and the shooter himself had cooperated in steps to get treatment for his mental illness.

Perhaps the only debate that might ensue, is that there will be some that suggest that it was a mistake to allow someone with a history of mental illness to purchase guns. This argument has some merit, but it is risky to go this direction if the young man had no “criminal” history of mental illness. It may be counter-productive to penalize people who have sought counseling, anger management training, psychotherapy to help them through a crisis, etc by taking away any of their rights. In general, it is the UNTREATED mentally ill that put the population at risk, not the people who are responsible enough to seek help. And we DON’T want to stop people from seeking help. Such a change could have the unintended consequence of increasing homicide and suicide rates. Existing laws require professional therapists to let law enforcement know if a patient appears to be a risk to themselves or others… and this should be good enough.

If someone has been found “criminally” ill, where the criminal justice system has found and treated the illness, then taking their gun rights makes more sense.

My last thought on this topic is to tell people that if you feel you are likely to kill yourself, tell someone. And whatever you do, if you must take your own life, don’t take other people with you! Saint Peter will be much more sympathetic if one arrives at the pearly gates alone… even an agnostic can see that if there is any possibility of an after-life one should not drag innocent bystanders into one’s self destruction. And the public will be much more sympathetic to one’s family and loved ones if he has not killed others before killing himself; this is important, because loved ones suffer immensely from suicide anyway, and this type of tragedy could be too much for a parent to bear.

I’m curious to hear your thoughts.

Here is today’s story:
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University shooter’s girlfriend: I couldn’t believe it

WONDER LAKE, Illinois (CNN) — The girlfriend of the gunman who killed five people and then himself at Northern Illinois University last Thursday told CNN there was “no indication he was planning something.”

Jessica Baty said her boyfriend, Steve Kazmierczak, gave no warning of the terror he planned to unleash at NIU.

“He wasn’t erratic. He wasn’t delusional. He was Steve; he was normal,” Jessica Baty tearfully said in an exclusive interview Sunday.

Baty, 28, said she dated Steven Kazmierczak off and on for two years and had most recently been living with him. READ MORE »