Seattle homeowner exchanges gunfire would-be burglars amid string of neighborhood robberies

Police are investigating a string of home robberies in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Seattle last week, including one in which the homeowner exchanged gunfire with the would-be home invaders. 

The first incident took place on Dec. 18 near the intersection of Beacon Avenue and South Graham Street.

A man told police he was walking home from a casino and was approached by several men brandishing firearms. 

The suspects forced the man to open the door to his home and ransacked the place, before fleeing the scene with cash. 

Two days later, South Precinct officers responded to an attempted home invasion near the intersection of Beacon Avenue South and South Ferdinand Street around 5:30 a.m.

The homeowner told police that three men tried to break down his door but were unsuccessful and left. 

Early the next morning, four male suspects returned to the same address and tried to break down the front door with a sledgehammer.

The victim, awakened by the noise, grabbed a rifle and shot at the would-be home invaders.

The suspects fired back at the homeowner as they retreated into vehicles and fled the scene. 

The homeowner was uninjured. It was not clear if the homeowner injured any of the suspects. No arrests have been made as of Wednesday. 

Seattle police said the robberies share a similar set of circumstances to a series of robberies that happened earlier this year, in which all of the victims were of Asian descent and the suspects were all black males. 

Though the suspects in these pattern robberies have been arrested and are in jail, investigators are concerned about the recent uptick in similar cases, Seattle police said.