By DEAN A. RADFORD, For The Mirror
A Federal Way man was killed in Renton, apparently over a $40 debt.
A 29-year-old Seattle man was being held in the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent on $2 million bail in connection with the shooting death early morning May 23 of a Federal Way man on Lake Washington Boulevard, according to Renton police.
Charges were expected to be filed no later than Thursday, according to Renton Police Commander Paul Cline. The suspect has yet to be charged and is not being named.
Alex Landin, 31, died of a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. His death was ruled a homicide.
The shooting occurred at about 2:25 a.m. Saturday in the 4400 block of Lake Washington Boulevard, according to Cline, where the road skirts Interstate 405.
The suspect was taken into custody at about 9:45 a.m. about three blocks away.
According to documents from the King County Prosecutor’s Office, Landin was found dead on the edge of the roadway at Ripley Lane and Lake Washington Boulevard. A small sledgehammer was found under his body.
A witness told police that the suspect was upset with Landin because he owed him $40. The witness, a friend of Landin’s, and Landin agreed to meet the suspect at the Northeast 44th Street exit of I-405 near the Seahawks’ training facility.
The suspect was sitting on a guard rail when they arrived. Landin walked toward the suspect, who, according to documents, pulled out what appeared to be a black semi-automatic pistol and fired two or three times when Landin was eight to 10 feet away. Landin stumbled away and the suspect drove off in a white Honda Accord belonging to Landin’s girlfriend.
The friend held Landin until he thought he was dead, according to the documents. He called 911 at 2:29 a.m.
The suspect is familiar to Renton police, according to the documents. Because the suspect was armed and at large, Renton police submitted an “immediate threat/public safety waiver” to Verizon Wireless in order to get information about the suspect’s cell-phone calls.
Using those cell records and cell towers, Renton detectives traced the suspect to a nearby motel. The suspect was apprehended smoking a cigarette while walking away from the Guest House Suites.
The suspect was not carrying a weapon when he was arrested. According to the court documents, the suspect is a convicted felon.
“The seriousness of this crime does not merit release as he will surely flee,” according to the documents. “(He) presents a danger to the public and deals with and uses narcotics.”
