SEATTLE — A security guard was shot and wounded when he tackled a suspected jewelry robber on the streets of downtown Seattle Friday morning, police said.
The aftermath of the incident was caught on video by cameramen from local television stations who were on assignment at the nearby federal courthouse.
A video posted by KIRO News shows a man in a rubber skin mask struggling on a city sidewalk with the security guard and then held down by a group of men who came in to help. The video also shows the man who tackled the suspect with a bloodied hand and grimacing from his wound as Seattle police officers arrive.
The incident began around 10:30 a.m. when a gunshot was fired during a robbery inside Express Jewelers, a shop located in the Westlake Center mall. Bank employees at the shopping mall’s Wells Fargo branch heard the gunshot and triggered their panic alarm, which alerted police, The Seattle Times reported.
When the suspect ran, he was chased by a Mayflower Hotel security guard, Deputy Seattle Police Chief Nick Metz said.
The suspect ran and shot at the 35-year-old security guard, who still managed to tackle the suspect and hold him until passers-by came in to help.
“I got him in a headlock and took him to the ground and put my knee on his neck,” said Merlyn Parker, a 38-year-old Real Change newspaper vendor, who was among the group of men who intervened.
During the scuffle, the robber’s handgun dropped to the ground, along with the tray of platinum-colored rings he’d been carrying, Parker said.
“He probably had 20 rings, platinum or silver-colored,” Parker added.
The wounded security guard was taken to Harborview Medical Center.
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