Court documents clarify SWAT situation outside Capitol Hill gym

Armed suspect in custody after lockdown at Seattle gym

A witness told FOX 13 that the suspect entered the gym already displaying a gun. He then started screaming at a front desk clerk, according to the witness.

SEATTLE - First-appearance court documents are shedding light on an incident in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood that shut down a few blocks and brought in a SWAT team. 

The incident began just before 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Pacific NW Fitness in the Broadway Market complex.

Court documents say a man asked to use the bathroom inside the gym, but was denied because he wasn't a member. Documents say he lingered outside the front entrance for a while before walking up to the suspect. 

A witness at the gym told officers it looked like the man approached the suspect and said something to him and held his hand out for a shake. The suspect didn't shake his hand and the man punched him in the face, witnesses said.

The suspect then brandished a gun and chased the suspect around the second floor, documents said. 

When officers went up to the second floor, they saw the suspect pointing a gun at the man who allegedly punched him. The victim was on his stomach on the ground, with his arms out in a ‘T’ shape, court documents say.

Hostage negotiators were able to get the suspect to drop the gun.

The gun was not loaded-- there were no rounds in the magazine and the chamber was empty.  

The suspect was taken into custody without incident. 

The 42-year-old man was booked into King County Jail for assault and unlawful imprisonment.