Seattle sees violent start to All-Star Week
Jul 9, 2023, 5:56 PM
Seattle Police cars on the scene (Image courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Image courtesy of KIRO 7)
SEATTLE — Seattle sees a violent start to All-Star Week as three people were shot and killed within 12 hours.
The first shooting happened at a gas station Friday night.
Security footage from the 4th Avenue South and South Lander gas station shows a busy parking lot around 11:30 p.m. Friday. It also shows police showing up seconds after a man falls to the ground.
Their quick response is possibly part of the extra patrols for All-Star Week that began this weekend. The first shooting also happened in the eyesight of where tens of thousands of baseball fans are headed, as T-Mobile park can be seen from the gas station where the man was killed.
“It’s a little bit alarming whatever we’re seeing and hearing in Seattle in general,” said Seattle resident Ayush Kair.
We caught Ayush and his friend as they were walking down South Lander Street towards 4th Avenue South, past the Shell Gas station. Security footage from that gas station shows a man dressed in dark clothes with a white cloth on his shoulder. He walks up to a dark-colored SUV’s driver-side window. It’s hard to see in the footage but he and the driver fight, and the man then falls back. He takes another step before ultimately falling, sadly dying before police showed up seconds later.
“I’ll be extra cautious and I would like to leave this place as soon as I can,” said Ayush after he learned he was about to walk past where that man died.
That shooting was the first of three deadly shootings Seattle police would see Friday into Saturday.
“At least in my community I talk with a bunch of people who have this kind of feeling they’re not safe, so I look forward to what’s going to change this,” said Ayush.
The second shooting happened early Saturday, around 5 a.m. in the Leschi neighborhood. Police found a woman shot in a home on 800 Lakeside Avenue South. They said they tried to save her but tragically she’d become the second person killed by gunfire in Seattle this weekend.
“It’s becoming so prevalent and now it’s coming home in a relatively safe neighborhood. I don’t know what to say, it’s got to come to a stop through,” said Alastair Lockett, who lives near the second killing.
A few hours later, just before 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning a man was found unconscious with gunshot wounds in front of the Old Rainier Brewery building at Airport Way South and South Hinds Street. Seattle Fire pronounced him dead at the scene. Both the first and third fatal shootings happened near T-Mobile Park, where the 47k-seat stadium is expecting sold-out crowds for All-Star week.
“It should shock me but as I’ve seen in the last several years just gun violence in general is going up so much so it’s hard to be shocked anymore really which is that’s a bad sign when stuff like that is happening and it doesn’t shock you anymore,” said Alastair.
Seattle Police Department’s crime dashboard shows the city has seen 22 homicides so far this year. They’re asking anyone with information to call the violent crime tip line at 206-233-5000.
