SEATTLE — Seattle police chief Adrian Diaz said officers made three homicide arrests in three separate cases over the weekend.
Diaz said the Seattle Police Department arrested suspects in a Feb. 25 homicide at the light rail, a deadly shooting outside a Belltown music venue on Sunday, and a homicide of a homeless victim killed in an alley near Seattle Town Hall.
"In just this one weekend, to have three cases where we are able to solve three homicides and take three suspects, book them into jail for investigation of murder is extraordinary police work by the detectives and our officers that are going out and collecting evidence at each of these scenes," Diaz said Monday.
Diaz credited "extraordinary police work" for the arrest of a suspect accused of killing a homeless victim in an alley near Seattle Town Hall. The victim was known to sleep often in the area when the suspect allegedly killed them at random, Diaz said. As officers investigated, they spotted the suspect in the area days after the homicide. Diaz said the suspect took off running, leaving an axe behind.
Investigators served a search warrant on the suspect after finding enough evidence linking him to the homicide. Based on his behavior, Diaz said officers might have prevented another homicide by completing the arrest.
In another homicide, officers arrested a 33-year-old woman on Sunday after she allegedly killed another woman in a shooting outside The Crocodile music venue in Belltown.
Less than a week after a Black man was shot and killed aboard a Link light rail in downtown Seattle, a 21-year-old suspect turned himself in to authorities. He was booked on investigation of murder.
“These homicide arrests are another example of why I am grateful for the service of our police officers," Mayor Bruce Harrell said in a statement. "They were persistent, patient, and thorough – and the result of their efforts is a safer Seattle. In the case of the victim living unsheltered, our detectives' intuition and quick investigative work may have very well prevented another homicide from occurring. Everyone in our city deserves to feel safe and to be safe, and I want to thank our officers for the work they do every day to advance this shared mission.”
There have been 10 homicides in Seattle this year, according to the Seattle Police Department.