A voice from The Jungle: I’m surprised police go in there

Today, Ryan can say he is a recovering heroin addict. But three years ago, his life was much different &#8212 wandering Seattle for a fix, and spending his time underneath I-5 in what is known as “The Jungle.”

Ryan told of his experience in The Jungle on KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz Show. He called in while news was breaking of a fatal shooting underneath I-5.

Related: What happened when WSDOT tried to turn The Jungle around

“There are two different Jungles,” Ryan said. “There’s the one that you are talking about (where the shooting happened), and the one between I-5 and Harborview (Medical Center) that sits right next to the freeway.”

The Jungle is a stretch of woods that includes parks and a trail, bordering I-5 and I-90 in Seattle. The nearly 2-mile stretch also sits underneath the freeways where some homeless campers seek shelter.

It’s not a friendly place, even for Ryan at 6’3″, 350 pounds, and who only went into The Jungle with a friend.

“It actually scared me,” he said. “There’s a lot of stuff going on up there. You get people &#8212 women that are doing anything for anything. You got meth, heroin, you got crack, anything. It is a very scary place. I’m surprised that the police actually go in there.”

Related: Firefighters won’t enter The Jungle without police backup

Ryan estimated that under the freeway area where the Jan. 26 shooting happened, there are about 15-20 tents, but noted “that’s just tents. That’s not how many people in the tents.”

“Sometimes they have guns and sometimes if you go down there with money, they will rob you,” Ryan said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody got shot trying to rob somebody. We have no clue (what happened at The Jungle shooting) but it could have been something gone bad.”

Ryan speculated at the time, but police later reported the shooting was likely the result of low-level drug dealing. And drugs are primarily the reason many have taken refuge in The Jungle, Ryan said. It is a place where addicts know they can be without being hassled.

“(It’s) everyone underneath the freeway,” he said. “Anywhere under the freeways, you can go there and you will find someone who knows where to go (to get drugs). It is disturbing. All I had to do was walk Broadway, go underneath I-5, ‘go here,’ ‘go here,’ even behind REI.”

Since his time in The Jungle, Ryan has recovered from his addiction. He said that before, he didn’t have a strong family connection or a support group/system, which he does now – including a woman who got him “into shape.”

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