SEATTLE – A 19-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman were among three people killed on Sunday evening when gunfire erupted in the middle of the Bite of Seattle food festival, scattering thousands of diners at Seattle Center and leaving investigators searching Monday for at least one suspect still at large.
The shooting began shortly after 6 p.m. along the 200 block of Thomas Street in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, when authorities said at least two individuals opened fire on each other in the crowded festival grounds. A young boy was among four people hospitalised with gunshot wounds at Harborview Medical Center.
Acting Seattle Police Chief Tyrone Davis, who responded to the scene within minutes, confirmed that two firearms had been recovered. Officers arrived almost immediately after the shots were fired. “Our officers were there within seconds,” Davis said at an evening news conference. “They performed emergency aid to the wounded.” He later added: “We need people to be brave. We need information. We need help to solve this crime.”
A 44-year-old man was also killed in the shooting. Of the four survivors brought to Harborview, a 23-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman were in stable condition with gunshot wounds to the arm, leg, and abdomen. A 40-year-old woman with minor injuries declined hospital transport. The boy’s precise age and condition were not disclosed by police Sunday night.
One suspect, described only as a young person, was taken into custody and was expected to appear in court Monday. A second person believed to have been shooting remained at large, though Seattle police said there was no immediate wider threat to the public. Investigators said they believed the two shooters had been firing at each other rather than targeting the crowd, a distinction that did little to diminish the horror for the hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers present when the shots rang out.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson condemned the attack in front of cameras outside the festival grounds. “What happened at the Seattle Center today was an act of horrific violence,” she said. “What should have been a celebration of our community was shattered by horrific violence.” The Bite of Seattle food festival, held annually at Seattle Center since the 1980s, draws an estimated 300,000 visitors over three days and is one of the largest outdoor culinary events in the Pacific Northwest.
Representative Pramila Jayapal, whose congressional district includes Seattle, said she was “absolutely horrified by the shooting that took place this evening at Seattle Center.” Washington Governor Bob Ferguson expressed support for increased police resources in the city, though did not specify additional measures.
The Seattle Police Department’s Homicide and Gun Violence Reduction units were leading the investigation, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI also notified. Investigators acknowledged there were no surveillance cameras in the immediate vicinity of the shooting, complicating the search for the suspect still at large. A tip line was established at 206-233-5000. The Youth Peace and Justice Foundation offered a separate $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Sunday’s attack cast a long shadow over a city that has wrestled with violent crime even as its technology sector has driven a decade of rapid growth. High-profile incidents at Seattle Center have been rare; the campus is one of the most heavily policed open spaces in the city, which makes the ease with which the shooters appear to have entered and opened fire all the more jarring for investigators.
ATF agents were among the first federal responders on scene. The recovery of two firearms gave investigators a starting point, but with no cameras capturing the immediate shooting area, identifying the at-large suspect relied heavily on witness accounts from a festival crowd that dispersed rapidly when the shots were fired.
The shooting arrived as a federal appeals court last week struck down New Jersey’s AR-15 ban in a landmark Second Amendment ruling that had renewed national debates over gun access. It also came one week after an ICE officer with documented violent history shot and killed a Colombian immigrant in Maine, adding to a summer of recurring questions about firearms and accountability.
As ABC News reported, officers performed emergency aid while the crowd fled the grounds. By Sunday night, Seattle Center was largely empty, its food stalls abandoned and festival banners still hanging above a crime scene.
Motive remained unknown Monday morning. Whether the shooting resulted from a targeted dispute, a gang confrontation, or a random encounter was not established by police. What was clear was that investigators needed public help. Neither suspect’s identity was released pending the juvenile’s court appearance and the ongoing search for the second person believed to have been firing.
