Not even a week ago, residents of the Arrowhead Gardens Senior Living Community in Seattle's Highland Park neighborhood said they were afraid somebody was going to be killed at a homeless encampment across the street.
That's exactly what happened Tuesday night when Seattle police responded to the encampment on Myers Way South after somebody located a man's body there.
Police indicated the body had signs of trauma and the case was being investigated as a homicide.
"None of us are surprised or in shock, but everybody is angry," said Diane Radischat, who lives at Arrowhead Gardens.
Radischat has been leading the effort by Arrowhead Gardens residents who say they are in danger because of the encampment that has grown in the woods across the street since April.
“We call this an occupation, because it is. We’re still hearing the gunshots every night. I told you before they were either going to blow something up, burn something up, or someone was going to die - so now we have one out of three, " she said.
There are about 30 people living in the encampment, which sits on property of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).
“WSDOT knows what’s going because we’ve told them and for them to just turn their backs on us and them, it’s incredibly wrong," Radischat said.
Representatives for WSDOT said they are aware of the encampment, but cite a large number of encampments and limited resources as the reason for why it's not being closed down.
"We are unable to address all of them with the care, compassion and resources such work requires. That is why we work closely with local partners, who have access to the resources and human services required to provide a pathway to temporary and permanent housing," WSDOT spokesperson RB McKeon told KOMO News in a statement.
That outreach is the responsibility of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA). The state gave KCRHA $50-million to handle encampments near freeways, including the Myers Way encampment which sits directly west of State Route 509.
KCRHA claims outreach teams have been to the Myers Way encampment "regularly" to connect the people living there to basic needs and services.
When asked how many offers of housing, if any, have been made to people living in the encampment, KCRHA spokesperson Anne Martens indicated that information was not immediately available.
Radischat, the Arrowhead Gardens resident, wonders if the fact that a homicide occurred in the encampment will cause WSDOT and KCRHA to speed things up.
“What is going on over there in unconscionable, inexcusable, and it can’t continue because somebody here is going to get hurt next," she said.
But if recent history is any indicator, the homicide won't impact how the encampment is dealt with.
Earlier this year, 66-year-old Annette Barnes was strangled to death and her body was left in a homeless encampment on Mercer Street in the South Lake Union neighborhood.
That encampment has not only been allowed to stay on WSDOT property, but it has expanded. New residents have moved in and a man has built a house in the state right-of-way.
Residents at the encampment also tampered with a nearby city electrical box to hard-wire power into the encampment.
While the Mercer Street and Myers Way encampments sit on state property, Seattle city leaders are keeping an eye on what's happening.
City councilmember Lisa Herbold, who represents Highland Park neighborhood, said she has asked KCRHA to use their resources to address the Myers Way encampment.
"My office learned that outreach workers were doing outreach at this location 3 – 4 times a week. Their outreach includes addressing potential fire hazards, getting trash pick-up and sanitation, and needs assessment of residents as well to assist in facilitating appropriate service referrals. In facilitating appropriate service referrals that include housing, there is no guarantee appropriate indoor shelter is immediately available," Herbold told KOMO News in a statement.
Monica Parrish lives in the Myers Way encampment and spoke with KOMO News on Wednesday.
“We are dealing with this unsafe thing going on just as well as they are," Parrish said.
Parrish said the man who died on Tuesday was recently released from prison and was having disputes with other people in the encampment prior to his death. She said his body was located on a trail behind a row of RVs in the encampment.
“Nobody knew he was out there, he must have been out there a long time," Parrish said.
She added that not everyone in the encampment is dangerous and they are trying to keep guns out.
“There’s nothing unsafe about living there. Ask if we’re concerned for our safety - we’re not," Parrish told KOMO News.
Whether she feels safe or not, the seniors across the street who thought they would be enjoying retirement at Arrowhead Gardens say they're now living on edge.
“We have to keep our drapes closed in case something comes through our windows, we don’t want to be shot in our own homes," Radischat said as she held a .223 caliber shell casing that was found on the Arrowhead Gardens property in her hand.