One of many police cars parked near a barricaded man in the 15400 block of 22nd Ave SW Monday morning, Dec. 12, 2016.[/caption]

At around 10:30 a.m., a robot used by the bomb squad was sent towards the house.

Photos courtesy neighbors near the police activity.

A man who barricaded himself inside his home in the 15400 block of 22nd Ave SW in Burien was taken into custody after a five-hour standoff that resulted in a huge police turnout and the lockdown of nearby St. Francis School. The incident began around 7:22 a.m., when neighbors called 9-1-1. We first heard that the school was put into lockdown at around 8:45 a.m. (everyone at the school was kept safe). Reports from neighbors indicate that the resident made some kind of bomb threat, and may have thrown eggs at a their homes A huge multi-agency police turnout resulted, including TAC/SWAT and a bomb squad. Police told The B-Town Blog that the suspect, who has a history of mental health issues, will be booked into the King County Jail for Malicious Placement of a Hoax Device – a felony – and that he will receive mental health counseling. “Burien PD is working an incident at SW 154 and 22 Av SW involving a man with mental health issues,” Capt. Bryan Howard said on a social media post. “Lots of police in the area to ensure everyone’s safety. He is inside a residence and the surrounding area is safe. Please remain out of the area so we can focus on assisting him.” Around 12:45 p.m., a huge explosion was heard blocks away as police attempted to breach the house. Shortly thereafter the man was safely taken into custody. Police used the parking lot behind St. Francis as a staging area, and the City of Burien assisted with road closures. One neighbor near the scene posted this photo and comments on Facebook:
“I am taking this photo from my front yard. The road is completely blocked off by police because my mentally ill neighbor directly behind me has what he wants us to believe is a bomb hooked up and ready to detonate. The police informed me the bomb squad is on their way!!! I am a prisoner here for the next several hours…..my cars sit directly between our properties and I was told I can’t move them! The robot is checking out the suspected device now… Just saw a fully dressed swat guy with rifle in hand go between my cars toward his place! Creepy!”
Here’s a video from another neighbor showing TAC/SWAT team activity with an audible callout to the suspect resident: [fbvideo link=”https://www.facebook.com/ginger.lemmonbabcock/videos/706002786224838/” width=”500″ height=”400″ onlyvideo=”1″] Schools are routinely put into lockdown mode when there’s nearby police activity, and as far as we know, there is currently no danger to the school itself. St. Francis is located at 15216 21st Ave SW, and the police activity was in the 15400 block of 22nd Ave SW (map below). As we receive more information, we’ll update this post… ]]>

Since 2007, The B-Town Blog is Burien’s multiple award-winning hyperlocal news/events website dedicated to independent journalism.

9 replies on “Burien man arrested after bomb threat, 6-hour standoff with police”

  1. This neighbor has been posting threats on twitter for weeks – this weekend he posted that he wanted to burn down all the Catholic Churches. He also posted about how 22 shells pierce Kevlar, and about all of the groups he hates and who he would take out. I hope and pray he gets the help he needs.

  2. Well, if the guy is the owner listed for the property and not a renter, the property was up for a foreclosure sale back in April of this year and he had until the 22 of December 2016 to move out….

  3. What was the cause of the huge explosion? I heard that today in my home while working online. I am hoping and praying no innocent people or animals, birds and other creatures were hurt. I am so disgusted with this kind of behavior by people. They don’t think about anyone or the innocent creatures around them. People need to learn they are the only one here, and to be aware of who and what they might be hurting behaving like this.

    1. My neighbors say the explosion you heard was a “flash bang” set off by the police. It was followed by a message over a speaker that he was under arrest and needed to come out.

  4. I don’t meant to sound so cruel, but people need to go get help before it gets to this point. There should be more mental health awareness out there and people should be embarrassed about it. You know what I mean? It’s upsetting and frustrating.

Comments are closed.