The Bear/University District/Sat May 20/11:22 pm: True, this incident was reported in major newspapers around the world, but it's still worth reading about it directly from the perspective of an SPD officer (however, the best perspective of this sad incident, the victim's, will never be shared, not only because the victim is dead but also because the victim is a bear). Officer Conley reports: "Police responded to a report of a bear in the area of Ravenna Park. We searched the general area to no avail. As the police drove down Greek Row, however, a woman flagged down the patrol car and told them she had just seen as bear heading northeast along 17th Avenue. Police along with Fish and Wildlife officers searched the Greek Row area on foot for the next hour. Finally, a Fish and Wildlife officer made a good tranquilizer shot at the bear. The bear, however, continued roaming northeast, ending up in the 1800 block of Northeast Ravenna Boulevard. The police and wildlife officials cornered the bear in a backyard and Tasered it repeatedly, though the Tasers were not successful in keeping the bear contained. The bear escaped to the street, where a Taser was again applied and the Fish and Wildlife sergeant hit the bear with a second tranquilizer. A few minutes later, Fish and Wildlife determined the bear was deceased and removed the bear from the scene. The bear had been roving through the neighborhood for roughly two hours, during which time an estimated 500 people were outside walking between houses and parties. Three Fish and Wildlife officers, three UW police, and 26 Seattle Police Department officers were deployed on this incident."
The Man/Central District/Tues May 23/6:00 pm: Officer Zech reports: "At 6:00 p.m., police were dispatched to investigate a suspicious circumstance. A witness had seen a man hanging out of his apartment window by the waist, with his lower torso outside and his upper torso inside. The window had horizontal bars running across it, with a slightly larger slot at the top were the man was stuck. The witness could see the man's face was blue and when attempts to get his attention by yelling failed, the man called 911. The police officer found groceries in the hallway outside the apartment, with a gallon jug of milk that was still cold. Firefighters forced entry into the apartment and found a man [in] the living room... The firefighters performed CPR on the man, eventually finding a pulse and transporting him to the hospital. The police officer also noticed a ladder leaning against the apartment to allow access to the apartment window the man had been dangling from. A pair of white tennis shoes lay at the bottom of the ladder." According to reliable sources within the SPD, the life the SFD found and revived in that poor fellow did not last for very long. Before reaching the hospital, the precious light of his existence was resnuffed by the same evil force which consumes everything (the cities, the villages, the people of Fantasia) in the movie Neverending Story: The No Thing.
