SEATTLE — Homicide detectives are investigating Saturday after a 79-year-old man was found dead in Ballard Friday night.
Seattle police said the man was found dead inside a camper in a parking lot of the 5000 block of 15th Avenue NW around 6:30 p.m.
First responders determined the man had been dead for several days and it appeared to be natural; however, during further examination of the body, a single bullet hole was discovered in the man’s body.
The man's RV was parked right beside a camper in the Les Schwab Tire Center parking lot. The people at Les Schwab said they gave the man permission to park here three or four years ago.
So his death has affected them and a lot people he never knew.
"No way," exclaimed Elliot Lobo. "Oh, my gosh. Really?"
Lobo says he saw police officers in the parking lot across the street Friday night, but he never imagined someone had been murdered inside an RV parked there.
"That's very creepy considering I'm like right across the street.," he said. "Wow! That is senseless, too."
That was the feeling at Les Schwab, too. They said off camera they had allowed the man to park in their lot for three to four years. He drove away every morning and returned every night, except when he was hospitalized. So when Seattle police found him dead inside the RV Friday night, they, too, assumed he died of natural causes.
Then the King County Medical Examiner determined he was shot.
"Oh, goodness," said Nicole Rains. "Yeah, that's a little shocking, startling."
The one-month Ballard resident says a murder here is out of the ordinary.
"I know we're still part of Seattle," she said. "We're not that far from downtown. But it does surprise me that it would be up here because it seems pretty safe out here."
Crime scene investigators returned to the scene late Saturday. The victim's vehicle had already been impounded. Medics said the man likely died several days ago.
"I hope the police can help everybody who's been involved," said Erik Carlson, also a Ballard resident. "And find the person responsible."
That is the hope of the people at Les Schwab, too. They say the victim was nearly 80 and, by their lights, harmless.
Seattle police are asking anyone with information on the situation to call 911.
Cox Media Group
