ON JUNE 25, 1901, a feud between former friends turned deadly at the Metropole Building.
Armed with a sawed-off shotgun and a brace of revolvers, disgraced former Seattle police chief William Meredith, ambushed theater owner John Considine outside G.O. Guy’s drugstore at Second Avenue and Yesler Way. Once close allies, the two men had become bitter enemies after Considine’s accusations of corruption led to Meredith’s dismissal.
Meredith fired first. His shotgun blast missed Considine, tearing through the store’s front doorway and lodging in the ceiling. Considine fled into the shop with Meredith close behind. The two wrestled until Considine drew his own .38 and shot and killed the former lawman, according to contemporaneous reporting in The Seattle Times and later historical accounts.

