Lights & Sirens, Tacoma News Tribune's crime blog, reported this morning that a 68-year-old Lakewood man was killed by his own van at a gas station late last night when the vehicle rolled forward, knocked him down in front of the van, and pinned him under the wheels. According to Lights & Sirens, "the man's death is being investigated as accidental" and "investigators will be checking over the van to see if a mechanical failure prompted it to roll over the man" (as opposed to...malicious intent on the part of the vehicle?). What a brutal, random way to go. more ›

In the midst of the Election Day 2008 hullabaloo, we want to take a second to remember Seattle's Tuba Man, Edward McMichael. Robert Jamieson, who did this terrific interview with McMichael last year, brought the horrible news of Tuba Man's death:

On Oct. 25, police say, McMichael, 53, was near a bus stop in the 500 block of Mercer Street when thugs attacked, beating and robbing him after midnight. He was taken to the hospital for head wounds and was home recovering. But he died sometime Sunday or early Monday.

Damn, this is the kind of story that really makes our stomach churn. This morning, a skater was hit by a bus killed when he fell under a bus wheel in the U-District. The 20-year-old skater, according to the Times, "ran into the side of the bus and fell under the rear wheel...He was pronounced dead at the scene." Apparently the bus driver didn't even realize she'd run over the kid until the cops stopped her a block later. more ›