SEATTLE — It was surely fitting that the public memorial to Donnie Chin began with the Pipes and Drums of the Seattle Fire Department and the color guard of the Seattle Police.
After all, his was the face they most often saw when they responded to a crime, a fire or other emergency in the International District. And each remembered meeting him where he wasn't allowed.
"The people next to me are like 'Hey, don't you know who that is?'" remembered Seattle Police Capt. Paul McDonough. "And kind of the same response, 'I really don't care who he is. He can't come into the scene.' And they said, 'No that's Donnie. He's okay.'
Frankyn Smith, who was once one of the ID's transient addicts, credits Chin with saving his life when everyone else walked by.
"Except for Chief Donnie because he knew that was not my area and that was not my spot and there was something wrong," said Smith. "And as he came to me and looked down, 'Do you need some help?' Then he called for backup."
Smith told those assembled, to applause, he has been clean and sober from alcohol for 10 years.
Three weeks ago, it was Donnie Chin who was the murder victim. Caught, Seattle police now say, in the crossfire between rivals.
But they didn't talk about how he died today, but the glorious way he lived.
"Donnie had the most generous heart of anyone I've ever known," said Connie Chin, his sister, her voice breaking. "Someone said Donnie was like Batman and that made me smile. I would never have thought of that but he was like Batman. He was a regular guy doing extraordinary things."
Seattle police say they have identified two persons of interest in Chin's murder.
One of them is already in custody.
KIRO
