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Police and SWAT try to wait out man barricaded in Group Health bathroom — UPDATE: Arrest made

Several notes to us tonight about police and SWAT activity at the Group Health Capitol Hill campus at 15th and John. CHS has learned that a man is barricaded in a room inside the hospital’s south wing. We’ll tell you more about his location as it becomes clear SPD has things in hand. We’re told officers are taking the ‘slow, patient’ route in the situation which started around 8 Saturday night.

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Confused Citizen
Confused Citizen
13 years ago

I’m not seeing anywhere in these updates any reference to a crime being committed or this man being a danger to society. Why was he arrested and not taken to Mental Health Unit of the Hospital for evaluation?

jseattle
jseattle
13 years ago

No details on that yet. I’ve asked and will continue to ask.

Andre
Andre
13 years ago

I like how the caption to the photo accompanying this article said the cops take the man into custody after “flushing” him out of the bathroom. Also that gas may have been involved in the bathroom standoff. Uh huh.

Angelina
Angelina
13 years ago

Does the Group Health campus have a complete emergency department? While my information about the facility is somewhat outdated, I do know that as late as 2006 they still diverted after-hours emergency patients to Virginia Mason. Their “Urgent Care” facility now runs 24 hours (I think) but they might not be able to accommodate a potentially dangerous mental health patient.

BrianaCR
BrianaCR
13 years ago

Police are not trained Mental Health professionals. It is not their job, nor their duty to determine the mental state of a person. When the person is arrested and taken to the jail, licensed MH professionals will assess their competence and make the appropriate referrals.

Me
Me
13 years ago

You Seattle people are stupid! Let’s just leave a knife wielding male inside a building! It’s called community care taking and law enforcement DOES make initial evaluations in the field to determine a person’s mental capacity to determine if they are threat to others or themselves.

husky22
husky22
13 years ago

Isn’t this the 2nd incident this year at GHC’s south building involving the bathroom?

I’m glad it wasn’t when there were a lot of patients/staff around!

Who knows how to read
Who knows how to read
13 years ago

Like what it says in the note, The man himself barricaded himself in the bathroom, not running all over the building and SPD was called to subdue the gentleman with as less force as possible. It did take them 4 hours to get him into custody. If you destroyed a person’s property, then of course a person would be put into jail. I’m just saying, read and understand before you leave a comment.

c-doom
c-doom
13 years ago

What this guy is, a drug user, a homeless person, a guy who will grow into another homicidal killer without provocation….. or just another idiot off his meds who needs help. He wasn’t the next marginal shot and killed by police for wielding a pocketknife in a menacing manner though, at least.

ctrlratx
ctrlratx
13 years ago

The GHC Facility is no longer (since the early 90s) a full hospital, and it has only a walk-in Urgent Care, not a true emergency room. The only two true emergency depts in Seattle are Harboview & Virginia Mason, to some degree UW, & only Harborview has a trauma unit.
In fact, Harborview has the only level 1 trauma unit in all of western WA. Yes, really! Thanks to Tim fracking Eye-man & his 30dollar car tabs. (Car accidents generate the US’ greatest need for trauma units, so 911 & trauma ED are often paid for by car taxes. Think before you vote against a tax people!)Emergency depts are not cost effective & are usually subsidized.