Three suspects were arrested early this morning following an armed robbery with a shotgun at a 7-11 in Ballard.

Shortly after midnight officers responded to a 911 call of an armed robbery at the store located at NW 61st and 24th Avenue NW. The caller stated that a man with a shotgun had just robbed the store and left on foot with another accomplice. The clerk stated it was possible that the suspects left in a car.

Officers arrived quickly and spoke with the victim. The clerk stated that two masked men entered the store, one armed with a shotgun. The suspect with the shotgun struck the clerk in the back of the head during the robbery and left with an unknown amount of cash. Fortunately, the injury to the clerk was not serious.

While officers were interviewing the clerk, additional officers were searching the nearby neighborhood. Officers located a suspicious abandoned car at the corner of NW 70th and Jones Avenue NW. Officers could see a shotgun and cash inside the car. Clothing that matched the suspect’s attire was found just outside the car.

K9 officers responded to the car and began a track. The search ended up outside a house in the 7000 block of 24th Avenue NW. Officers located the suspects and they were taken into custody and transported to police headquarters where they were questioned by detectives.

Following the interviews, the 21-year-old and 18-year-old suspects were booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Robbery, and a 14-year-old suspect was booked into the Youth Services Center for the same crime. This remains an active investigation.