Seattle, WA
Seattle Seahawks support continued growth of girls flag football in Alaska
WASILLA — When Seattle Seahawks Managing Director of Community Engagement Becca Stout was in high school two decades ago, competing in flag football wasn’t even an option.
So being able to lead the charge in putting on the team’s first-ever girls flag football camp in Alaska on Friday, at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla, was especially meaningful for her and the organization.
More than 70 girls from across the state gathered for the camp, proving to Stout that the tide has turned for girls competing in football.
“I would’ve loved to have that, so now just every girl moving forward will have this opportunity to play football and it’s so cool,” she said. “We were told for so long that it’s just a male-dominated sport, and it’s not anymore.”
Girls flag football is being sanctioned in the state of Washington next month. Alaska had its first sanctioned state title last year. While the Seahawks have been coming up to Alaska regularly for the last decade and a half, they only started focusing on supporting the flag football community in the past couple of years.
“Supporting girls flag football is a really big initiative for the Seattle Seahawks,” Stout said. “It’s been a huge focus for us, not just in the state of Washington but helping it grow around the whole world.”
As interest has continued to grow, so has opportunity for flag football players, from youth athletes up to the highest levels.
“The girls here are out here hustling and competing and just trying to grow the game,” Stout said. “There’s so much opportunity for girls to play the sport now. More and more colleges are offering the sport so just the opportunity for scholarships for these young athletes, and it’s going to be an Olympic sport in (Los Angeles) in 2028. Hopefully someone from Alaska is competing in the Olympics in 2028.”
[Previously: Once dismissed as ‘powderpuff’ sport, Alaska girls flag football gets boost with first-ever sanctioned state championship]
Among the Seahawks contingent traveling north was starting right tackle Abraham Lucas, who was making his third visit to the state for an outreach event.
“One, I like Alaska, it’s a great place, and two, it’s nice to give back,” he said.
Lucas does a camp every year in Everett, Washington, and likes to be able to travel to other places and participate in similar events, especially ones that support the growth of sports such as flag football.
“Any capacity that you can get people to play football, whether it’s flag or two-hand touch, we all started off as young kids playing football in the front yard or backyard,” he said. “It’s great to still see people having fun with it, playing it and having a good time.”
Lucas played football at Washington State University and is happy that flag football can provide girls around the world the chance to continue their athletic careers beyond high school.
His advice to student-athletes who aspire to make it to the next level is that playing collegiate sports takes “a lot of sacrifice” and becomes like a job at some point.
“If you put all your time and energy towards it, it’ll go great for you because there’s no substitute for hard work,” Lucas said.
Proof of tangible growth in Alaska
There were at least 10 high school flag football programs from across the state represented at the event by either coaches or participants.
“It’s a great experience and opportunity for the girls that they normally don’t get,” West Anchorage head coach Antonio Wyche said. “It’s an opportunity for them to get to see different levels of football.”
The first-ever sanctioned high school state championship tournament for flag football was another indicator of how much the sport has grown in Alaska.
The Eagles have historically had “great numbers” when it comes to the participation level during Wyche’s tenure at the helm of the program. He has heard from other coaches with budding and traditionally smaller programs that their numbers are on the rise since the statewide sanctioning of the sport.
“The excitement that the girls are talking more about football is great for our sport,” Wyche said.
North Pole senior Jaelynn Colby was on the state championship team last year and has been playing flag football since her freshman year. She and her sister made the 326-mile trek to take part in the camp put on by their favorite NFL team.
“Me and my sister made this commitment to come here, we are Seahawks fans ourselves so it was pretty cool to come meet these people,” Colby said. “It’s so cool to me and awesome to have them here.”
[Previously: North Pole earns first-ever Alaska state flag football title]
While she plays a lot of sports, flag football is the one she wishes to play in college the most.
“This is definitely the best camp I’ve been to for a sport that I’m playing,” Colby said.
Two of her former Patriots teammates, Tiahna Guzman and Camryn Williams, represented not only their program but Alaska as a whole in flag football at the 2025 NFL Pro Bowl games, which she feels further underlines the sport’s rapid growth in the state.
“This has been the best year ever,” Colby said. “After our state win, we realized that this is going to be the next big thing. We’re kind of preaching it more at our school, so we’re telling all the girls that if you want a chance to do something other than your other sports you play, we’ve got that opportunity, so why not start now (rather) than later?”
Guzman is one of several girls in the state in recent years who have earned scholarships to continue playing flag football at the collegiate level. She will be taking her talents to Bryant and Stratton College in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, this fall.
Just being able to compete for a state title was a dream of Colby and her teammates when they first started playing flag football four years ago. To be able to top Service for a state title and be part of history made last year’s ride even more special.
“We’re really excited about this next year,” Colby said. “We’re going to build our team up. We lost some key players but we’ve got some new ones coming in, and I’m really excited to see how this next year goes.”
SEATTLE – The husband of a pregnant woman killed in a random 2023 downtown Seattle shooting has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.
The complaint alleges the agency failed to act on clear warning signs exhibited by the suspect, Cordell Goosby, before he opened fire on the family.
Cordell Goosby in the foreground with the crime scene, including the white Tesla the couple were shot in, in the background
King County prosecutors say Goosby shot a married couple sitting in their car on 4th Street in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood on June 13, 2023. It resulted in the death of 34-year-old Eina Kwon, who was 32 weeks pregnant at the time. Her husband, Sung Kwon, was also injured in the shooting.
Goosby was charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder for the act, but he was found not guilty by reason of insanity this year.
The lawsuit, filed by Kwon and his attorneys, claims that Goosby was being supported by the King County Regional Homelessness Authority and was provided with other services leading up to the shooting.
In the weeks leading up to the attack, Goosby allegedly told his case worker that he was hearing voices, experiencing paranoia, and thinking of conducting drive-by shootings. The complaint alleges Goosby’s case worker was repeatedly ignored by the agency’s supervisors when bringing up Goosby’s declining mental state.
An employee responsible for initiating psychiatric holds reportedly declined to see Goosby after he texted his case worker he needed to leave Seattle fast before he hurt someone, saying he would get to it in two days. The next day, Goosby carried out the shooting.
What they’re saying:
My wife and daughter should still be here. My family will never be whole again, and every day I think about the life we were supposed to have together. I am bringing this case forward because the people who were supposed to help this man looked away when it mattered most. I don’t want another family to experience the unimaginable loss that I am left with,” said Sung Kwon.
“KCRHA knew their program participant, Mr. Goosby, was in crisis. He asked them for help. He told them, over and over, that he was hearing voices and thinking about shooting people. He was threatening KCRHA employees. The warning signs could not have been more clear. Instead of getting him help or alerting law enforcement, KCRHA told its own staff to wait it out, and discouraged others from contacting police, as well. Eina and Evelyn Kwon paid for that delay with their lives,” said Julie Kline, the Schroeter Goldmark & Bender attorney representing the Kwon family.
What’s next:
The lawsuit seeks damages for wrongful death, the death of a child, and personal injury to be determined at a future trial.
FOX 13 Seattle has reached out to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority about the lawsuit and is waiting to hear back.
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The Source: Information in this story came from a press release from Seattle-based law firm Schroeter Goldmark & Bender, a complaint filed in King County Superior Court by Sung Kwon, and previous FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
SEATTLE — The widower of Eina Kwon, a pregnant woman who was gunned down while sitting in traffic in downtown Seattle, has filed a lawsuit against the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, alleging the agency knew of escalating and threatening behavior by the gunman in the weeks leading up to the shooting.
Cordell Goosby shot Kwon and her husband, Sung Kwon, at the intersection of 4th Avenue and Lenora Street in June 2023.
Seattle Police Department officers are seen investigating the shooting in Belltown near the intersection of 4th Avenue and Lenora Street on June 13, 2023. (KOMO News)
Earlier this year, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Video showed the shooting was completely random as Goosby walked up the Kwon’s car at a turn light and opened fire. Eina Kwon and her baby were killed, while Sung Kwon was shot and survived his injuries.
RELATED | Belltown restaurant reopens months after shooting death of pregnant owner Eina Kwon
The case sparked a severe backlash about the dangerous conditions on the streets of downtown Seattle during a year that set a record for homicides in the city.
According to Sung Kwon’s lawsuit, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) knew Goosby was growing delusional and violent prior to the shooting, including the day prior, when the agency declined to screen him immediately for psychiatric admission.
Weeks of escalating behavior
The lawsuit brings to light many allegations about Goosby’s interactions with KCRHA workers in the weeks before he attacked the Kwon family.
A photo showing{ }Cordell Goosby being arrested in Belltown on June 13, 2023, following a shooting that killed Eina Kwon. (KOMO)
In April 2023, the complaint says KCRHA staff started receiving complaints about Goosby’s behavior at his county-funded apartment on 1st Avenue West in Seattle. The lawsuit alleges neighbors told KCRHA staff about an overwhelming odor of marijuana and noise coming from Goosby’s apartment, the lawsuit alleges.
By June 2023, those complaints had escalated into reports of Goosby fighting strangers, displaying aggressive behavior, and talking about shooting people.
The day before shooting the Kwons, a KCRHA case worker notified her supervisors that Goosby had told her he needed to “leave Seattle fast before he hurts someone,” the lawsuit claims.
Goosby also apparently claimed people were in his vents talking to him and he was being “gang stalked”
“(KCRHA case worker) sought out (KCRHA supervisor), whom she understood to be the point person for initiating an evaluation by a Designated Crisis Responder for involuntary psychiatric admission,” the lawsuit states. “(Supervisor) declined to see Mr. Goosby that day, telling (case worker) he would get to it on Wednesday.”
Day before the random attack on the Kwon family
On June 12, 2023, Goosby confronted a property manager at his apartment complex while screaming, saying he hadn’t eaten in days and was being antagonized by neighbors.
The lawsuit claims the property manager called a KCRHA supervisor, who then discouraged the manager from calling police and assured him, “Goosby was not dangerous.”
A photo of Goosby’s county-funded apartment. (KOMO)
“By the end of the day on Monday, June 12, 2023, KCRHA had taken no steps to help Mr. Goosby or intervene in any way and did not notify law enforcement of Mr. Goosby’s threats to hurt (case worker) and others,” the lawsuit states.
But after talking with the KCRHA staff, the apartment manager called Seattle police and reported Goosby was in crisis.
According to an SPD case note included in the lawsuit, the apartment manager said Goozby was enraged about claims that people were talking to him all day and night, and said “if they don’t stop, you know what’s going to happen.”
The police report notes KCRHA staff had been notified, and the officer advised the apartment manager to call back “if (Goosby) ever seemed on the edge of committing a violent act.”
4th and Lenora Shooting
At 11:00 a.m. on June 13, 2023, the Kwon family was in their Tesla driving to their Belltown restaurant when they stopped for a turn light at 4th Avenue and Lenora Street in downtown Seattle.
Armed with a stolen gun, Goosby ran up their car at random and started firing through the glass.
Eina Kwon was shot in the head and check and did not have a heartbeat when paramedics arrived. She was rushed into surgery at Harborview Medical Center, but she and her 32-week old baby both died.
Flowers sit at Lenora Street and 4th Avenue on Thursday, June 15, 2023, in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood to honor Eina Kwon. (KOMO News)
Sung Kwon was shot in the arm and treated for his injuries.
Goosby surrendered to Seattle police immediately after the shooting. He was charged with murder in the first degree and went through multiple competency evaluations until being deemed not guilty by reason of insanity this spring.
Why family says KCRHA is responsible
Lawyers for Sung Kwon allege KCRHA had a “duty to exercise reasonable care” to prevent Goosby from harming the Kwon family.
“Mr. Goosby was a KCRHA program participant and KCRHA undertook to provide him with housing and case management services,” the lawsuit states. “KCRHA failed to implement or enforce policies and procedures for supervising and responding to program participants who pose a danger to others. KCRHA failed to adequately hire, train, and supervise personnel to handle program participants who pose a danger to others. It failed to provide guidance, protection, or support to personnel, so they were enabled, empowered, or equipped to take reasonable steps to address program participants who pose a danger.”
The suit claims KCRHA staff asked with reckless disregard of the safety, and sought to prevent others from contacting law enforcement about Goosby’s threatening behavior.
“KCRHA was negligent in its failure to take reasonable care as it related to its knowledge of Mr. Goosby’s mental state and behavior thereby creating, combining with, or increasing the foreseeable risk of improper conduct of Mr. Goosby, which KCRHA knew caused a foreseeable risk of injury to others,” the lawsuit states.
The complaint does not list a specific dollar amount, but seeks for damages to be determined at trial.
SEATTLE — A man accused of stealing copper wire from the West Seattle Bridge is wanted after prosecutors say he failed to show up in court this week, prompting a warrant for his arrest.
New police body camera video shows an officer arresting the man, who had bundles of copper wire in his arms.
Seattle police arrested Gregory Wayne Galitzeck after prosecutors say he was caught stealing copper wire from the bridge in the middle of the night.
Court documents say Galitzeck had four 100-foot coils of stolen copper wire, causing about $100,000 in damage that Seattle City Light customers will have to pay to repair.
Prosecutors say that when he was caught, Galitzeck claimed to be a Seattle City Light employee.
People in West Seattle called the alleged theft shocking, but not surprising.
“I feel like we live in an alternate timeline now anyway, so nothings really surprising to me,” said Lisa Coronado, who lives in West Seattle.
The case comes amid a string of similar crimes. This was the second copper wire theft along the West Seattle Bridge in just weeks. Similar thefts have also hit agencies such as Sound Transit, with thieves selling copper wire for cash.
Galitzeck is charged with theft and impersonating a City Light worker. He was supposed to come to court this week to answer the charges but did not appear. A $5,000 warrant has been issued for his arrest.
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King County prosecutors are again pushing for a new law that would require recyclers to upload photos of purchased copper to a database, a step intended to help investigators track stolen metal.
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