Vigil held to honor 19-year-old man shot in Seattle’s Central District

A vigil was held Saturday to honor a 19-year-old man shot and killed in Seattle’s Central District.

His family is calling for answers as the search for the killer continues more than 24 hours later.

That teenager was killed Friday afternoon in the first of three shootings in Seattle in less than nine hours.

RELATED: 1 dead, 2 injured in Seattle Central District shooting
RELATED: 2 more shootings after fatal Central District incident

Those shootings left four other men badly injured, and police are searching for the suspects in all three crimes.

The bullet holes and crime tape are grim reminders of a shooting around midnight Friday.

“It woke me up and it was like tatatatat, like that,” said Randy Baldwin, who lives around the corner. “It was rapid fire.”

“Heard vehicles screaming past this way and heard screaming vehicles going this way,” Baldwin said. “I looked out, heard people screaming after the gunplay.”

Eyewitnesses said a group of men was grilling food and playing cards around midnight when a vehicle drove by 28th Avenue South and South Jackson Street. Someone inside opened fire, and one man was shot several times.

Neighbors said he and a couple of friends ran into an alley to wait for medics. It was the conclusion to a violent night in Seattle.

Chopper 7 was over the scene Friday afternoon of what was described as a shootout among several people.

Two men were injured but Royale Lexing, 19, was killed.

Stanyetta Stroud, who described herself as his stepmother, lamented that he didn’t even reach 20 years old.

“Another innocent child shot dead in the streets in the broad daylight,” said Stroud. “And nobody knows anything. It’s just gotta stop.”

But it didn’t stop. Nearly eight hours later, two men said they were shot at by a vehicle driving by 46th Avenue South and South Eddy Street in the Rainier Valley. One man was shot; the other man pulled out his weapon and fired as the gunmen fled.

Now Seattle police have deployed the gang unit and the Anti-Crime or ACT team to neighborhoods to try to restore peace.

All of it is uncomfortably close for Randy Baldwin. He said he has dealt with similar issues in his own life.

“Oh, yeah,” said Baldwin. “I got family right now that’s in the penitentiary and is going to the penitentiary. And I changed because if I didn’t, I would still be a part of that.”

Seattle police said they don’t know whether these shootings are related. That is one thing they are trying to figure out right now.

But one thing is true. The killer, as well as the suspects in all of these shootings, are still not in custody.

By Deborah Horne, KIRO 7