‘They’re not really clear who’s the aggressor’: PhotogSteve details Auburn shooting that left 4 injured

Four people, including three women, were injured after a shooting broke out at a youth homelessness housing building in Auburn.

The shooting took place at approximately 4:20 p.m. Monday at Phoenix Rising apartments, a housing program for young adults experiencing homelessness, on 26th Street N.E. in Auburn.

“Upon arrival, officers located three adult female victims who had sustained gunshot wounds inside an apartment,” the Auburn Police Department stated. “All three victims were stabilized at the scene and transported to Harborview Medical Center for further treatment.”

PhotogSteve describes chaotic scene

Independent journalist Steve Hickey, known as @PhotogSteve81, told “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio that a call came in that someone had found a gunshot victim. Then, within about 15 minutes, they found two more gunshot victims.

“Kind of all different levels of messed up, from what you classify as red, life-threatening, all the way down to stable,” Hickey explained.

He added that as police worked to unpack the situation, they were searching for the shooter and trying to determine if it was one of the injured.

“There’s a lot of chaos going on. They end up calling a mass casualty unit about 20 minutes in. And what that does is then start setting up more transport units,” Hickey explained. “They got an airlift on the road. Everything just kind of starts falling into place so that they can focus on trying to figure out what they got.”

However, there was still a belief that there was an outstanding shooter.

“About an hour later, somebody pops up at a Walgreens just down the road, off a Harvey Ave, they start sending units out there because that person is believed to have a gunshot,” Hickey said. “It is a male with blood on them. They gave a description. It starts to match. Everybody starts flying that way. By the time they get there, this person’s gone.”

Hickey said he started receiving pictures from neighbors’ Ring cameras of a man going through backyards and some doors, seemingly trying to get help or get a new set of clothes.

“Those come in, confirm with Auburn. ‘Hey, is this in line with who you’re looking for?’ They say, ‘Yes.’ We put that out not too long after the six o’clock hour,” he explained.

Man covered in blood shows up at Apple store

Then, a man showed up at the Apple store in Tukwila and said he was trying to buy a phone as he had been robbed earlier.

“He’s covered in blood. He’s wearing the same clothing in the picture that I put out,” Hickey said. “And at that point, they don’t even know about what’s happening in Auburn, but the employees at Apple decide they do not want to sell this man a phone, and they call security.”

Security saw that the man was a gunshot victim and called Tukwila police.

“As they get out there, talk to him, he continues with the story that, ‘Hey, I got mugged. I don’t have anything to do with whatever you’re talking about in Auburn.’ But so far, the evidence that they have says he probably was involved,” Hickey explained.

Investigation continues

He added that police were going back and forth on whether or not the man was a suspect or was involved, but that officers confirmed everyone had been accounted for.

“That could mean a number of things. It could mean that multiple were shooting. They’re not really clear who started, who’s the aggressor. Or they just aren’t ready to say, based on his statements and lack of clarity, that he is officially a suspect,” Hickey said.

It’s unclear what prompted the shooting, as of this reporting.

Each victim is in their 20s, police told KIRO 7. One female victim is in satisfactory condition, another is in serious condition, and the third is in critical condition.

The fourth gunshot victim was accounted for hours later after he made his way to Tukwila and walked into Southcenter Mall with a gunshot wound in his arm, according to KIRO 7. The fourth victim is in satisfactory condition, as of this reporting.

The Auburn Police Department claimed there is no ongoing threat to the community.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.