SEATTLE - A police stand-off in the Lake City neighborhood ended about 4 a.m Tuesday morning when SWAT officers stormed an apartment. But the man they were looking for got away.
According to the police, the incident began shortly after 10 p.m. Monday when officers were called to a report of an assault at an apartment complex in the 12000 block of 31st Ave. NE.
When officers arrived they found an adult male with obvious facial injuries. The victim told the officers the suspect had threatened him with a gun. The suspect was thought to be inside an apartment unit.
Officers and SWAT team members surrounded the apartment. Negotiators made several attempts to contact the suspect but were unsuccessful.
At one point, officers made a limited entry into the unit and brought out three children - two seven-year-olds and a two-year-old. Two of the children's mother lives in the apartment, she was baby-sitting the third. Officers say she came out of the unit to talk to officers at the beginning of the incident and did not go back inside.
When officers finally stormed the unit they discovered the suspect was not there. Police say there is reason to believe the suspect actually fled the scene before the first officers arrived.
The suspect, in his 30's, is still at large.
