Woman inside assisted living facility killed when car slams into building

SEATTLE — Chopper 7 was overhead as firefighters arrived at the desperate scene. The call went out just after 11 a.m. Tuesday.

"Regarding a car into a house," said Seattle Fire Lt. Harold Webb, "with a person trapped."

The vehicle crashed into a resident's bedroom inside an assisted-living facility. Firefighters worked feverishly to rescue both the driver and the resident.

But they were hampered by concerns that the house might come down.

"So how long do you anticipate this operation taking?" Webb was asked.

"It's taking quite a while," he said. "We want to make sure the structure (is) evaluated for stability. So we want to make sure when we pull that car out, we've got it stabilized, so we don't crash the rest of the home."

Moments later, they gave up trying to save the woman who lived in the facility.  She was just too badly hurt.

"We do have one person who is deceased at the scene at this time," said Seattle Police Capt. Sean O'Donnell. "And we will be looking at exactly how that occurred."

A resident said the driver was coming to pick her up to take her to the Wallingford Senior Center.

"Did you hear it happen?" she was asked.

"Yes," said Marge. "I was outside waiting for her, but her car kept going."

An unease settled quickly over those living at the facility.

"I can't imagine how a car would come, make a turn," said Richard Rice, also a resident. "It must have been parked there and somebody had released the brake or something and somehow drove it through the house."

The only information released about the victim so far was her age – she was 72 years old.

As for the driver, she is 88 years old. She lives just three miles away. Seattle police say she was not impaired, but their investigation continues.

Tuesday night KIRO 7 caught up with the driver, Elaine Babb.  Police let her return home while officers continued to investigate.

Babb told KIRO 7 she meant to back up her vehicle and the car shot forward unexpectedly.  She said the whole thing was “certainly unintentional” and she “didn’t mean to hurt anybody.”  Babb said she will take a few days off from driving to deal with the emotions of the situation, but does plan to get behind the wheel someday soon.

Cox Media Group