Memorial outside cafe remembers victims slain in Seattle shooting rampage

UPDATE: Another victim in the cafe shooting has
been identified. According to The Albany
Journal, Kimberly
Lynn Layfield, of Albany, GA, was sitting in the cafe when
Ian Stawicki opened fire on her and four others.

A memorial is slowly growing outside Cafe Racer in the
Roosevelt neighborhood of Seattle after a shooting rampage
on Wednesday left six people dead, including the suspected
gunman.

A man walked into the cafe, a known hangout for local
musicians near Seattle’s University District, and opened
fire, fatally wounding four people. Police also believe
the man, later identified by the media as Ian Stawicki,
40, killed a woman during a carjacking downtown before
shooting himself in a quiet West Seattle neighborhood.

“Two tragic shootings today … have shaken this city,”
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said at a news conference
Wednesday afternoon.

The five victims brought the number of homicides in
Seattle so far this year to 21, matching the total for all
of 2011.

A day after the most recent shootings, candles and flowers
sit outside the first scene in Wednesday’s murder spree.
Several of the people killed there have been identified as
regulars of the cafe in North Seattle.

Joe Albanese, 52, and Drew Keriakedes, 45, have been
described as inseparable best friends and roommates, both
members of the local band God’s Favorite Beefcake.

A friend of the victims, identified as Caela, called in to
97.3
KIRO FM’s John Curley Show. Caela said the victims
were “really unique, incredible people, that were really
loved. People who really cannot be replaced.”

>>>Listen to the full interview with Caela

Two other shooting victims, a man and woman, died after
being transported to Harborview Medical Center. The woman
has been identified as Kimberly Lynn Layfield, of Albany,
Georgia. The man has still not been named.

The sole survivor from the cafe shooting was last reported
in critical, but stable condition following surgery on
Wednesday.

Harborview Medical Center Spokesperson Susan Gregg
confirmed his name as Leonard Meuse. Meuse’s father,
Raymond Meuse, told The Seattle
Times his son was shot in the jaw and armpit but was
expected to survive.

The Times reports Meuse was the chef at Cafe Racer and was
on duty when the shootings occurred.

The sixth victim in Wednesday’s shooting was killed after
a run in with Stawicki in a parking lot near Town Hall.

The media has identified the woman killed downtown as
Gloria Koch Leonidas, a mother of two from Bellevue.

Leonidas was killed as Stawicki stole her SUV from a
parking lot near 8th and Seneca. He then reportedly drove
the SUV to West Seattle where he ditched it.

In the final shooting of the day, Stawicki turned the gun
on himself. An officer spotted Stawicki walking in a quiet
residential neighborhood and called for backup. As police
closed in, Stawicki put a gun to his head and pulled the
trigger.

He later died at the hospital.

Andrew Stawicki, 29, of Ellensburg, Wash., told The Times
he recognized a photo shown on TV newscasts of the alleged
gunman as his brother Ian. Andrew Stawicki said Ian
Stawicki was mentally ill.

“It’s no surprise to me this happened,” he told the
newspaper. “We could see this coming. Nothing good is
going to come with that much anger inside of you.”

Stawicki was a regular at the cafe where the shootings
occurred, according to reports.

“It’s literally the last place I would expect something
like this to happen in our neighborhood,” said a man named
William, who stopped by the crime scene to leave flowers
and pay his respects.

“Every time senseless violence happens there are families
and communities that area fractured forever and there’s
just no making sense out of it,” he said.

The cafe remained closed Thursday after the murders.
Notes, flowers and candles continue to collect outside the
door.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.