A summer evening at one of Seattle’s busiest festival grounds turned deadly when gunfire erupted near the Space Needle, leaving three people dead and at least four others injured, including a toddler, police said.
Seattle Police said one suspect was taken into custody after the shooting at the Bite of Seattle food festival, held in a well-known tourist area of the northwestern US city, while officers continued to search for another person believed to be involved.
Assistant Police Chief Tyrone Davis said the first reports of shots came at around 6pm (2am Irish time), adding that “there were two people who we believe were shooting at each other.” Officers recovered two weapons at the scene.
There is “no outstanding threat to the community,” he said.
Police said on X earlier Sunday that officers were responding to “multiple shooting victims” after gunfire broke out at the Seattle Center.
Witnesses describe chaos as shots ring out at Seattle food festival
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson said State Patrol SWAT officers were sent to support Seattle police as the response unfolded.
“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 condemned the shooting as “an act of horrific violence.”
“Our attention belongs to the people whose lives were taken, those fighting to recover, and the families beside them,” she said in a statement.
She also thanked “the Seattle police officers who responded to the scene and took a suspect into custody.”
A police officer stands near deserted vendor booths at the Bite of Seattle food festival
Harborview Medical Center spokesperson Susan Gregg said four patients were receiving care at the hospital’s trauma center: a child, a woman whose age was not known and who was in surgery, a 23-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman.
Davis said the people being treated in hospital were in a “stable condition.”
Several witnesses told Seattle television station KIRO they heard repeated gunfire before fleeing the area.
“At first, I thought there were fireworks, and then everybody flooded and ran past us,” Nick Bate told the station.
“We started running. I didn’t know. I didn’t look where the person was going. I just heard everything,” a witness told AFP.
The violence unfolded during the Bite of Seattle, a summer festival built around the city’s local businesses and food vendors.
