More than 24 hours later man in Seattle tree comes down
Mar 23, 2016, 12:32 PM
Emergency crews are working to get a man out of a tall tree in downtown Seattle. (KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
A man perched in an 80-foot sequoia tree came down after more than 24 hours.
The man touched down around 11:50 a.m. Wednesday.
#ManInTree is now on the ground and in contact with police. Officers still in speaking w/ him and working to safely resolve this incident.
— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) March 23, 2016
KIRO Radio’s Josh Kerns reports paramedics are on scene to evaluate the man.
@SeattleFire heavy rescue team gearing up for possible move on #ManInTree @KIRORadio pic.twitter.com/Iqm0XB2SCU
— Josh Kerns (@joshkerns38) March 23, 2016
Police initially got reports of the man in the approximately 80-foot-tall tree at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. The tree is between 3rd and 4th Avenues on Stewart, near the Macy’s building.
The Seattle Police Department continued to negotiate with the man.
The man threw an apple at medics who attempted to respond to the incident. He also has begun ripping branches off the tree around him and tossing them to the ground. The man has also reportedly tossed pine cones.
Seattle police report that the man appears to be “suffering from a crisis,” is refusing to speak with officers, but has said he is armed with a knife.
The man briefly climbed down the tree at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, but didn’t make it far and soon climbed back up to the top. Negotiators reportedly tossed him a cigarette, and he climbed down through the tree to retrieve it, then moved back to his perch.
In another instance, a woman nearly got him out of the tree when she promised him a kiss, KIRO 7 reports.
Within a couple hours of the man scaling the tree Tuesday, twitter accounts were created and dedicated to him, @Man_in_Tree, and the firefighter negotiating with him atop the ladder, @SassyFireman. The hashtag #ManinTree was also trending.
The Seattle Department of Transportation is expected to inspect the tree to determine its health after the encounter.
At one point Seattle’s superhero Phoenix Jones attempted to help. According to Jones’ twitter feed, he has encountered the man atop the tree before and said that usually food, beer or cigarettes are all is needed to calm the man down. Jones said “he’s not a criminal, he’s mentally ill…”
Thank you for the support I just hope that @SeattlePD remembers this guy is not a criminal pic.twitter.com/I0XeOUkA06
— Phoenix Jones (@ThePhoenixJones) March 23, 2016
So we are here but Spd says it's under control and they don't want our help. Nine hours still stuck #letphoenixhelp pic.twitter.com/8O5TcTd0FV
— Phoenix Jones (@ThePhoenixJones) March 23, 2016
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