Seattle shooting "hero" hurled stools at gunman Ian Stawicki, "saved three lives"
The 21 homicides this year have the city's leaders wondering what if anything can be done.
"The city is stunned and seeking to make sense of it," Mayor Mike McGinn said. "I think we have to start by acknowledging the tremendous amount of grief that's out there from the families and friends of the victims."
In just over a month, a young woman was killed in a seemingly random drive-by shooting in a popular nightlife district, and a father who was driving with his family was killed by a stray bullet fired during a fight involving people on the street.
While the city still has a low murder rate, pressure is growing on the police to curtail the violence at a time when the department is facing accusations of excessive force. Police have told residents to expect more officers on patrol in high-crime areas.
McGinn said the highest priority would be addressing the "epidemic of gun violence that's plaguing the city." He said he'll look at redeploying officers, as well as legislation.
The gunman's family, meanwhile, is struggling with what could have been had they been able to get Stawicki help sooner.
Ian Stawicki, 40, had suffered from mental illness for years and gotten "exponentially" more erratic, his father said, but family members had been unable to get him to seek help.
Walter Stawicki said he was "bitter" that it was so hard to get his son help.
"He wouldn't hear it," he said. "We couldn't get him in, and they wouldn't hold him. ... The only way to get an intervention in time is to lie and say they threatened you."
Walter Stawicki recalled a son who liked dogs, kids and plants. He joined the U.S. Army after graduating high school, but the Army honorably discharged him after about a year, he said.
Since then, Ian Stawicki had bounced around serving as a roadie for bands and helping his mother with gardening.
According to the Seattle city attorney's office, police cited Stawicki in 1989 for carrying a concealed knife and, in 2008, a girlfriend who lived with him claimed he had assaulted her and had destroyed her property. She later recanted, and charges were dismissed because she would not cooperate with prosecutors.
Stawicki obtained a concealed weapons permit in 2010 from the Kittitas County sheriff's office. The permit shows he owned six firearms.
Other than a couple of traffic tickets and a fistfight with his brother several years ago — charges were dropped — Stawicki had no criminal record, his father said.
"When you knew him and he liked you, he was the best friend you could have. He was an old-fashioned gentleman," he said. "But when he was having bad days, he scared people."
Walter Stawicki also said he knew his son had guns, but he was more concerned that Ian — a "beanpole" at 6-foot, 150 pounds — would get in a physical altercation and lose.
Stawicki last spoke to his son the morning of the shooting. He recalled a cheerful conversation.
The only survivor of the cafe shooting, Leonard Meuse, was upgraded from critical to serious condition at Harborview Medical Center.
A memorial in front of the cafe grew Thursday as people stopped by to drop off flowers, cans of beer and toy instruments. Two of the victims, identified by friends as Drew Keriakedes, 49, and Joe Albanese, 52, were old-time musicians and regulars at the cafe, where they often played or simply held court.
"They were the life of this place," said Janna Silver, who had known them for a few years. "They were very welcoming, and they'd talk to anyone."
The King County medical examiner's office confirmed the identification of Keriakedes and also identified another cafe victim, Kimberly Layfield, 36.
The carjacked woman was identified as Gloria Leonidas, 52. The Seattle Times said she was a married mother of two from suburban Bellevue. The medical examiner's office does not release hometowns.
Formal identification of the other victims, as well as the victims' cause and manner of death, will be released Friday, the medical examiner's office said.
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"by rbmartiniv June 1, 2012 11:26 AM EDT -
If he was mentally ill he should not have had the handguns. Another failure in the system. Thank you NRA."
Exactly correct, rbmartiniv. The "system" (FBI NICS check for all firearms sales) weeds out (most of) those with criminal backgrounds at the point of sale in an above-board NFL retail shop. Little if any barriers stand in the way of private sales, gun show sales, straw purchasers, or other private "transfers." Additionally, both the NICS system and wildly varying state/local laws pertaining to handgun purchases/ownership have proven to be lethally ineffective in preventing mentally disturbed individuals from purchasing or otherwise acquiring either long guns or handguns. The NRA has done its damnest to ensure that ANY laws restricting gun sales/ownership don't see the light of day, even those that could prevent a deranged person from possessing a gun, regardless of the means used to obtain it. In my opinion, the NRA is far more concerned - in fact essentially ONLY concerned - with the sale of as many firearms as possible to anybody. The Second Amendment is little more than a serendipitous convenience, coupled with outlandish conspiracy theories, to rally its hundreds of thousands of 25-dollar members; the real financial support comes from the gun manufacturers, for which they expect Wayne LaPierre to earn his $1 million annual compensation.
"by schoollord June 1, 2012 11:11 AM EDT
Scorecard: Lives saved with tools - 3 -. Lives saved with guns - 0 -. Number of people killed with guns - 6 -. Number of people killed with tools - 0 -."
You make a good point, schoollord. We often hear how, if so-and-so only had a gun, or if a citizen who is armed had been there on the scene, the gunman (in a shooting spree situation) could have been stopped. The fact is, anvybody with an inkling of training or experience with firearms should know better - there are so many variables that bear on such a scenario: the precise circumstances that would/would not even permit an armed citizen to intervene; the real potential for collateral casualties; and a host of other issues. I shoot at various ranges on a frequent basis. While I consider myself "proficient," I, and virtually 100 percent of my fellow shooters, are nowhere near trained and practiced enough to deal with every real, live shooting spree situation. Even highly trained cops, including members of SWAT teams, who practice and train continuously, cannot be prepared for every contingency. To think an "amateur" could stop a gunman in most cases is folly.
I think we in the shooting community - those of us who enjoy casual target shooting, to competitive shooting, to the various shotgun sports, to hunting - would be better served, and the greater public as well, if we closed the loopholes on illegal gun sales, sales to those with criminal backgrounds, and those who are mentally unstable. My shooting friends agree.
I'm a foreigner and in my country they only sell hunting rifles, but to get one you need to pass criminal background and mental health exams done by accredited source. It's easy to implement, then every couple of years they need to have people re-check to have their licenses extended. It's a bit of annoyance but it gets the job done.