SEATTLE — A suspect wanted in a brazen drive-by shooting is now behind bars. The suspect tried to escape by jumping out of a window, but it was six stories up and was instead taken into custody.
This is a shooting that shocked even seasoned investigators. The suspect opened fire on a Maserati in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood in the middle of the day.
Seattle police really wanted to catch this suspect because of what he is accused of doing, putting everyone in this neighborhood in danger. He opened fire on a moving vehicle that, incredibly, he missed.
It was like something out of a movie. But this scene in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood was all too real. A man standing outside his driver’s door window, shooting at a Maserati as it drove by.
“I can’t even imagine what would possess somebody to open fire in a crowded neighborhood like that,” said Seattle Police Detective Eric Munoz.
That, says Munoz, sparked an intense police manhunt.
“This was a very extensive and monthslong investigation by our lead detective,” he said.
They had a good head start, he says, because of this high-definition surveillance camera video. Still, it took detectives nearly one full month to track him down.
By late Monday afternoon, they had identified him as 38-year-old Robert Isabel, and he lived in an apartment on Lower Queen Anne.
But he didn’t go willingly. He tried to escape, says Munoz, through a sixth-floor window.
“Our SWAT operators, they were on the roof of the building,” Munoz said. “They were inside the residence. They encouraged him to come out or risk falling from that building.”
He was taken into custody. Then there was the incriminating evidence found inside his apartment.
“This is clearly weapons that were placed inside of, it looks like an underwear drawer, clothing drawer,” Munoz said, referring to photos of the scene. “And then these were other weapons inside the residence.”
Mr. Isabel had a long criminal history even before he was suspected in this brazen shooting. Now he is being held on $500,000 bail.