Seattle police were still searching Monday for a second suspect after gunfire broke out Sunday evening at a busy outdoor food festival near the city’s Space Needle, leaving three people dead and four others injured, including a toddler. A first suspect had already been taken into custody.
Investigators believe the two suspects were exchanging gunfire with each other during the incident. Despite one suspect still being on the run, Assistant Seattle Police Chief Tyrone Davis told reporters Sunday night that the public was not in any ongoing danger.
Davis acknowledged that authorities had no description of the suspect who fled the scene.
“We’re still trying to figure this out,” Davis said. Police had not responded to messages seeking further comment early Monday morning.
Two of the victims died at the festival grounds, while a third passed away at a nearby hospital. The deceased were identified as two men — aged 19 and 44 — and a 56-year-old woman.
All four of the injured, including a 2-year-old boy, were hospitalized and reported to be in stable condition as of early Monday. The other three wounded were adults. Davis said he could not confirm whether any of the victims had been involved in the confrontation between the suspects.
The shooting broke out around 6 p.m. Sunday during the final hours of the Bite of Seattle, a yearly three-day event that brings together hundreds of food and retail vendors along with live performers.
Davis said dozens of officers were already on-site providing security when the shooting started, and some of them witnessed one of the suspects firing a weapon. That suspect gave himself up at the scene, while the other ran off. Officers searched the entire festival grounds but were unable to locate the second individual.
A large contingent of police and emergency responders arrived and began clearing people from the area around the sprawling Seattle Center campus.
Festivalgoer Faith Adia Hunter said she and her friends had just grabbed food from a crepe stand when shots rang out. She quickly realized a shooter was right next to them, and the group ran to take cover inside the nearby Seattle Children’s Museum.
“We were right next to him when it started so we took off running,” Hunter said. “So we took off running too into the building with the crowd.”
Amid the chaos, many vendors abandoned their food stands and rushed toward the exits. Hours later, some gathered outside the police tape, waiting for permission to go back and retrieve their equipment, food, and supplies.
Vendor Roberto Ramirez said he initially thought the sounds were firecrackers before people started screaming “shooter” and running in a panic.
“Suddenly everything was empty,” he said. “People were freaked out.”
Ramirez added that after the initial rush, new visitors who had no idea what happened kept arriving and had to be turned away by police.
Estan Wakonabo said he and his girlfriend were standing in line for a photo booth when he felt a shove from behind. He turned around to find a wave of people running away.
“People were hiding, were pushing, people were falling on the ground, baby strollers were falling,” Wakonabo said, describing the moment before he heard the gunshots.
“Once I heard a ‘pop, pop, pop,’ that’s when I knew it was a shooter,” he said.
After making sure his girlfriend was safe, Wakonabo went back toward the scene and said he saw several victims lying on the ground.
The Bite of Seattle has been held since 1982 and typically draws around 350,000 attendees, according to the festival’s website.
