Seattle Crime: 3 arrested for separate homicides, including suspect in brutal axe attack
SEATTLE - Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz held a press conference on Monday to highlight the quick work of detectives in arresting three suspects in three separate Seattle homicides last weekend.
The first case Chief Diaz discussed was a shooting on the Light Rail system back on February 25. Police said they located a Black man shot to death at the University Street exit on February 25, and a 21-year-old man from SeaTac turned himself into SPD Headquarters Saturday morning.
Man shot and killed on light rail train in downtown Seattle
A man is dead after a shooting at the University Street light rail station in downtown Seattle.
The second crime involved a brutal axe attack that resulted in the death of a homeless man sleeping outside the Town Hall Seattle building.
The attack took place on February 22, where deputies located 52-year-old Daravuth Van with a gash in his head and blood pooling around him. The Medical Examiner determined his wound came from a sharp blunt force object that fractured part of his skull and penetrated his brain.
Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from nearby businesses, which captured video of the incident. Police say a man, later identified as 25-year-old Liam Kryger, cased the area near Van, walking by him three times before swinging a weapon in a downward motion where Van was lying.
On March 2, officers observed someone matching the description of the suspect, and after pursuing him, he ran and got away. However, officers recovered an axe from the path where the suspect ran.
Officers determined the axe was bought at a Lowe's, and security footage from a nearby store showed Kryger purchasing the axe, court documents say.
Seattle Police later determined where Kryger lived, and as he walked out of his home on Sunday, officers arrested him without incident.
Kryger admitted the person in photos taken from surveillance footage of the murder was him, according to court documents.
Police say Kryger has a history of drug abuse and is currently unemployed. He was later booked into jail for homicide.
Lastly, Chief Diaz spoke on the shooting death of a woman early Saturday morning in Belltown. He thanked investigators for their quick work in arresting a female suspect shortly after getting on scene.
Woman killed in Belltown shooting, suspect in custody
Seattle Police have a suspect in custody for a shooting that killed a woman in Belltown early Sunday morning.
Investigators are still piecing together exactly what happened in each of these homicides.