Bellevue police investigate suspicious car outside mall

Bellevue Police Department’s (BPD) bomb squad inspected a suspicious vehicle parked in a parking lot at Crossroads Mall for more than three hours. The investigation started Tuesday morning and was eventually called off around 4:15 p.m.

At 3:45 p.m., the bomb squad was doing its final checks on the car — a Honda Civic with switched plates, according to police. No explosives were found but officers told KIRO Newsradio a couple of nondescript items were taken to X-ray.

He’s on his way to the car. We’ll learn shortly if there is any explosive or if this was a false alarm. https://t.co/mKjkmUKN7F pic.twitter.com/b8tzxPLoSK

— Sam Campbell (@HeySamCampbell) December 10, 2024

Bellevue Police: Person of interest found

The department reported a person of interest, suspected of being associated with the car, was found and interviewed Wednesday morning and is no longer being sought by police.

Mr. Frost was located and interviewed this morning and is no longer being sought by police

— The Bellevue Police Department (WA) (@BvuePD) December 11, 2024

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Reporters were asked to move back as the car was assessed.

NOW: Bellevue police have moved reporters back once again as they fear the suspicious car at Crossroads Mall could blow once prodded by robots. pic.twitter.com/3SGOKVPYs8

— Sam Campbell (@HeySamCampbell) December 10, 2024

Robots were also deployed to analyze the vehicle.

Videos of the robots checking the car. Taken by KIRO Newsradio reporter @HeySamCampbell pic.twitter.com/jydRV3gJZt

— KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM🎙 (@KIRONewsradio) December 10, 2024

Mall security reports suspicious car

Police said a security guard at a nearby store told them the car was left running all night.

“He thought what he had was a stolen vehicle that had been left running all night,” BPD Officer Seth Tyler told KIRO Newsradio.

When officers arrived at the scene Tuesday morning the car had run out of gas, but officers spotted recording devices mounted inside and outside the vehicle. They said they also found some concerning notes that caused them to call in the bomb squad.

“There were several cell phones left inside and some couple of notes in the front dash that were concerning enough to the officers that they cordoned off the area and contacted the bomb squad,” Tyler shared.

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Note found in car reads ‘Goodbye world!!’

KIRO Newsradio got a picture of the hand-written notes.

They read, in part: “For Bill Gates. This is everything I had and still wasn’t enough. Goodbye world!!”

Here’s the hand-written notes that led to the bomb squad being called at Crossroads Mall in Bellevue.

They read, in part: “For Bill Gates. This is everything I had and still wasn’t enough. Goodbye world!!” pic.twitter.com/q5ggtZN1DX

— Sam Campbell (@HeySamCampbell) December 11, 2024

Most of the stores east of the mall were closed.

“To include the Dick’s Drive-In, the Planet Fitness and the Edgeworks climbing gym,” Tyler said.

However, the Crossroads Mall remained open, along with the food court.

“It’s just directly in this immediate vicinity that is closed,” explained Tyler.

Contributing: Sam Campbell and Aaron Granillo, KIRO Newsradio

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.