Woman shoots, kills armed intruder in West Seattle
By Dave Birkland
Seattle Times staff reporter
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While fighting with a male resident, the intruder was shot by a woman who had armed herself with a gun, said Seattle police spokesman Scott Moss.
The intruder, in his 20s, who also had a gun, collapsed and died while still inside the home in the 5200 block of 35th Avenue Southwest, Moss said. The home borders the south end of the West Seattle Golf Course.
The male resident suffered head cuts during the fight. He was in satisfactory condition at Harborview Medical Center, where he refused press interviews.
Moss said the intruder, a white male, forced his way into the home shortly after 6 a.m. It is uncertain if he knew the residents, police said.
Police homicide Sgt. Ed Striedinger said the home was divided into two apartments, with a shared main area. The man occupied the lower floor and the woman lived upstairs. The two levels are joined by a stairway, he said.
It was the man’s door at the side of the house that the intruder kicked in, Striedinger said. The woman responded after hearing the struggle, he added.
One neighbor said the man and woman are renters who have not lived there long.
Other neighbors gathered to determine what happened.
“What you want to know is if he (the intruder) knew them… if he was a stranger,” one neighbor said, asking that her name not be used. It also illustrates that “if you didn’t have a gun they could have been killed,” she said.