UPDATE 9:47 PM:
Actors! From an eyewitness inside the Carroll Kensington Apartments‎:
“the people upstairs were rehearsing for a play w/ fake guns. Got the swat team called on them. Just about every cop in Seattle”

In late May, police officers swarmed Broadway and briefly detained a man dressed in paramilitary gear for a zombie costume contest.

UPDATE 12:45 AM:
A report of the incident from SPD has been posted here
I’ve reviewed the scanner archive to try to learn more about what happened. A 911 call came in at 8:31 PM reporting that an unknown man had told the caller someone may be getting robbed at gunpoint. Officers arrived and walked with the caller to the brick Carroll Kensington apartment building where he said he believed the robbery occurred.

Officers observed people looking down from an upper floor window of the building and then shutting the blinds.

Around 8:42 PM an officer reported descriptions of two suspects in the building — a white male and woman in their 20s, both with unknown handguns.

A few minutes later a request for SWAT support went out but was put on hold. Meanwhile, an officer reported he could hear voices from inside the apartment.

At 8:50 PM, there is a report of screaming and later ‘smacking’ sounds from inside the apartment. More officers arrive. One is carrying a ramming shield.

8:53 PM The fighting gets louder.

8:55 PM Bellevue Ave is closed to traffic and sidewalks are taped off.

8:58 PM Officer reports somebody in apartment shouted, “Go ahead and come in and shoot me.” Attempts to phone the apartment are not successful.

9:03 PM Officer reports the suspects have agreed to come out of the apartment.

9:05 PM Additional officers are called up to apartment’s floor.

9:10 PM Officer reports that they are about to ‘clear’ the apartment.

9:13 PM Officer reports apartment is clear. Suspects are in custody.

Original report:
A police standoff that started around 9 PM had the area around Bellevue and Thomas in a 30-minute lockdown. Just getting word from people stuck inside buildings near the intersection that police officers have told them it is now safe to leave the building. We’re looking into what went down.

Via Twitter, Babeland marketing director Audrey McManus described the scene to us: “@jseattle guy with gun in thomas park across the street. WTF? cops won’t let us leave. Fighting in this building. Tons of slamming &yelling”

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