Teenage suspect in Bite of Seattle shooting appears in court
Oct 8, 2026, 1:10 PM | Updated: 1:11 pm
A memorial for victims of a July 26 shooting is seen at Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle food festival, Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Seattle. (Photo: Lindsey Wasson, The Associated Press)
(Photo: Lindsey Wasson, The Associated Press)
Today, KIRO 7 is learning new information about the 15-year-old Bite of Seattle shooting suspect.
New evidence brought by prosecutors at Thursday’s status hearing for the case shows the teenager’s gun may not have shot any of the dead or surviving victims.
On July 26, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) said at least three people started shooting among the crowd at the Bite of Seattle festival.
One of those suspects was killed at the scene, the 15-year-old was arrested minutes later, and two others are considered people of interest.
We aren’t naming the teen suspect because of his age.
He’s charged with assault with a firearm enhancement and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Thursday, prosecuting attorneys revealed that the latest ballistic evidence shows the bullet pulled from the body of one of the four surviving victims was not from the teenager’s gun.
Previous evidence revealed in a September hearing also revealed his gun was not a match for the three people who were killed either.
However, the prosecutor said there is still a grey area on whether the suspect did actually shoot anyone at the festival.
“Only one surviving victim had a projectile that was able to be recovered from their person; the three other surviving victims didn’t have any in their body or clothing, but because of how they were shot, they will never be linked ballistically,” the prosecutor said.
The suspect’s defense attorney commended him on good behavior while in jail and his taking classes to continue high school.
The judge said she will consider all of this in two weeks at a detention hearing but won’t decide whether he should be tried as an adult or juvenile for the crimes until January.
