SWAT team surrounds Kirkland home in response to altercation with convicted felon | Update

A Kirkland SWAT team has responded to a Kirkland home where a possible armed convicted felon is inside.

By Carrie Rodriguez • June 11, 2012 5:13 pm
Kirkland police and a Bellevue Police Bomb Squad set up a perimeter along 105th Avenue Northeast near a home that a SWAT team surrounded all day on Monday. Police believe a convicted felon who was involved in a domestic dispute there Sunday night was still inside.
Kirkland police and a Bellevue Police Bomb Squad set up a perimeter along 105th Avenue Northeast near a home that a SWAT team surrounded all day on Monday. Police believe a convicted felon who was involved in a domestic dispute there Sunday night was still inside.

A Kirkland SWAT team has surrounded a home in Kirkland’s Juanita neighborhood where a possible armed convicted felon is inside.

Police said there is no reason to believe there are any hostages involved.

The convicted felon was involved in an altercation outside the residence – just north of Northeast 132nd Street off of 105th Avenue Northeast – late Sunday night, said Sgt. Rob Saloum, a Kirkland Police Department spokesperson. The suspect hit the victim with a handgun and he could still be armed, said Saloum.

“We’re not sure what the origin of the dispute was or why the parties were together,” said Saloum, adding he does not know if the suspect lives at the home. “The victim went to the hospital and called us.”

The KPD got a search warrant and the SWAT has been on-scene, along with a Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) since about 7 a.m. Monday morning.

“We got some people out of the house when we called into the house, but we believe that person we’re looking for is still in the house,” said Saloum, noting that police were also able to clear surrounding buildings.

He said there is no danger to anyone outside the house, which is secluded in a wooded area, and police have set up perimeters.

However, police have ordered some neighbors close to the scene to stay in their homes, said David Skurnik, who lives less than 150 feet from the house on Northeast 135th Lane.

“There are SWAT team guys in camo gear all around – they are heavily armed,” he told the Reporter over the phone on Monday evening. “The Kirkland police are doing a great job of keeping people safely from the area. I am stuck in my house.”

Skurnik, who has lived in the neighborhood for 22 years, said that police would not let him out of his house all day on Monday.

“The SWAT team yelled at me and told me to get back in my house,” he said of when he tried to go for a walk earlier in the day. “They blocked the driveway to my neighborhood that has three other houses on it. Luckily I work at home, so as long as I have my internet, I’m good to go.”

Skurnik said he does not know the homeowner of the house that police surrounded, but the residence has been “a really strange place” and a “trouble spot” for many years.

“I was hoping someone would buy the house and clean it up. There are strange comings and goings, strange guys always coming in and out,” he said, adding that it appears that several people live there.

Skurnik also said that police activity seemed to be escalating as of Monday evening, noting he heard what sounded like several big explosions and possibly gunfire.

However, Saloum said that police did not fire their guns, but placed different types of devices and chemical agents into the house to try and get the suspect to come out.