17-year-old girl charged as adult in robbery that led to downtown police shootout, death of brother

SEATTLE -- Prosecutors charged a 17-year-old girl as an adult Tuesday with first-degree robbery and third-degree assault in the downtown incident that led to a shootout between her 19-year-old brother and police. Her brother was killed and three officers were wounded.

Bail was set at $250,000 for Adrianna Butts.

According to court documents, Adrianna Butts told police that she and her brother, Damarius Butts, decided to go into a 7-Eleven on 1st Avenue last Friday to steal food and beer. She said she gave her loaded gun to her brother " because she did not have the heart to show the gun (to the clerk), but she knew her brother did." After grabbing doughnuts and beer and other merchandise, she said, the clerk followed them outside and grabbed her. She said her brother lifted up his shirt, displaying the gun to the clerk, and told the clerk to let her go. The clerk complied. She said she and her brother walked a short distance and then stopped to smoke cigarettes. That's when the police showed up.

She said she gave the stolen items to a friend waiting nearby and then began to run. An officer grabbed her brother and she said she struck the officer on the head with a soda bottle and placed him into a chokehold until he let her brother loose. She said she was taken into custody at that point and that her brother ran, chased by officers. She didn't witness the shooting between her brother and the officers.

Police said Butts opened fire on them and they returned fire. They found his body inside the building he had run into.

On Tuesday, prosecutors explained why they were asking for such a high bail:

"Although the defendant has no criminal history, her actions on this date, including providing a loaded gun to her brother, which he later used to wound three officers; her willingness to repeatedly assault officers discharging their duties; and her assertion that she could have even 'sliced' an officer's neck with a knife she was in possession of when the officer was trying to stop her brother, clearly shows that the defendant is a serious danger to the community."

A third suspect who allegedly received the stolen goods down the street from the store has been released without charges, pending a further investigation, the documents said.

Of the three police officers wounded in the incident, two were treated at Harborview Medical Center last Friday and released. The third officer was last reported to be in serious but stable condition at the hospital Friday night; he has since asked that his condition not be made public.

http://q13fox.com/2017/04/21/photos-video-released-from-downtown-shootout-in-which-3-seattle-police-officers-injured/