Two people were killed and at least four wounded, including a child, in a mass shooting near the Space Needle in Seattle.
SEATTLE: A mass shooting near the Space Needle killed three people and wounded at least four others, including a toddler, police said on Sunday. One suspect has been arrested and officers are searching for another after the incident at a food festival in the tourist district.
Assistant Police Chief Tyrone Davis said shots were heard around 6:00 pm (0100 GMT) and “there were two people who we believe were shooting at each other.” Two weapons were recovered. He said there was “no outstanding threat to the community.”
Police said on X earlier Sunday there were “multiple shooting victims” after shots were fired at the Seattle Center. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson said State Patrol SWAT officers had been deployed to assist local police. “My prayers are with the families of the victims, and the responders as they work to keep people safe,” he said on X.
Mayor Katie Wilson called the shooting “an act of horrific violence.” She said in a statement, “Our attention belongs to the people whose lives were taken, those fighting to recover, and the families beside them.” She also expressed her thanks to “the Seattle police officers who responded to the scene and took a suspect into custody.”
Four patients were being treated at the trauma centre at Harborview Medical Center, according to spokesperson Susan Gregg: a child, a woman of unknown age who was in surgery, a 23-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman. Davis said they were in a “stable condition.”
Witnesses described hearing multiple shots before running. “At first, I thought there were fireworks, and then everybody flooded and ran past us,” Nick Bate told KIRO television. Another witness told AFP, “We started running. I didn’t know. I didn’t look where the person was going. I just heard everything.”
The shooting occurred during the “Bite of Seattle” summer festival celebrating local businesses and food vendors.
