According to Seattle police spokesperson Renee Witt, officers were called to the 1400 block of East Union on Capitol Hill at 10:37 a.m. this morning, after multiple witnesses reported seeing a man being "attacked by another man with, apparently, a hammer or a pickax." A person at the scene of the crime told Stranger intern Matt Luby that the weapon was, in fact, a pickax.

"Officers responded very quickly," Witt said. "They were able to take the suspect into custody."

According to Witt, the man who was attacked has died. She could provide no details on him or his attacker.

We'll update this post as we have more.

UPDATE 12:05 p.m. Stranger intern Matt Luby reports that the attack occurred on the Southwest corner of 15th and East Union, very close to a playground and the Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences, a private school for students in grades 6 through 12. One shaken witness says he was out walking his dog, heard yelling and commotion, and then came upon the dead body.

UPDATE 12:37 p.m. More from Matt Luby: Jim Rupp, admissions director for the Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences, said two men with large parkas were walking together in the area before the incident, and then, a short time later, he saw "red snow" and one of the parka-wearing men lying on the ground with his head split open.

Meanwhile, the police are currently entering a house near the crime scene that Jeremy Lange, a photographer who lives in the neighborhood, described as "shady."

UPDATE 1:02 p.m. The SPD Blotter adds that "what officers believe to be the murder weapon was also recovered." More photos from Kelly O in the jump.