One man was taken into custody after a note and plastic bag containing a white powder were found this morning at the Sound Mental Health facility. 16th Ave was closed down for just under an hour as an emergency hazardous material crew responded to collect and test the substance.
One man was taken into custody by police in connection with the incident. **UPDATE 7:30 PM: According to SPD spokesperson Jeff Kappel, the suspect was booked into King County Jail on investigation of felony harassment. SPD could not confirm details of the note described below.**
According to a Sound Mental Health spokesperson, the powder was detergent accidentally left at the scene by a man who receives treatment at the facility. When another patient found the bag, he handed it over to an employee who then carried the bag outside and through it to the ground in an area next to the building along 16th Ave away from people, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson said he did not know about the note also found this morning. The firefighters who were part of the hazardous material crew could be seen carrying the note written on a legal-pad size of yellow paper and reading from it. He said it included something about “killing girls.”
Original Reports:
Police and hazmat emergency crew are here at the scene where counselors this morning discovered a plastic baggie containing a white powder and a note.
Of all things, why did the employee decide to throw the bag on the ground outside? Seems like they created a whole lot of confusion for authorities trying to identify it and resolve the issue.
If they were at all worried about the substance, it’s not all right to just toss it away and let someone else worry about it.
From what I can tell, there was a little bit of panic involved. Imagine somebody handing you a bag like that. You’d probably want to get it our of your hands pretty quickly.
Your lack of proposed alternatives speaks volumes.
I misread the situation in which the powder was thrown away. My mistake, I thought it was less panic and that time lapsed before calling the cops.
Maus, sorry about that mistake.