Seven shootings, one death in one of Seattle’s most violent weekends

In Seattle a shooting at Northwest Folklife Festival, five
drive-by shootings, and a deadly home invasion have some
people
calling this the most violent weekend years. Police are
struggling to find an explanation.

The violence began outside the Folklife Festival Saturday
evening. Ryan Burr was about to cross the street toward to
the Space Needle when he heard two gunshots. He saw blood
coming from his leg.

“I’m trying to process the fact that I could be dead right
now,” he told KING-5.

Police caught the shooter a few blocks away after a chase
through the Center House. He says he pulled his .22 and
fired at a rival gang member who had hit him in the head
with his skateboard. He missed and hit Burr.

Just a few hours later, four homes in South Seattle were
shot up in drive-by shootings. Detectives say 60 rounds
were fired in total.

A girl was standing in her bedroom when at least six shots
were fired into her home.

“I was standing near the window,” she said, “and basically
I just heard a few gunshots. The window shattered, and it
hit me so my reaction was to duck. I waited a few
seconds, and I heard a few bullets again.”

At least two of the drive-by shootings are being
investigated by Seattle’s Gang Unit, but detectives are
looking at whether gangs are behind the other two
incidents as well.

Around the same time people were shooting up homes in
South Seattle, a gunman burst into a home in North
Seattle. Police said he was trying to steal marijuana
from the homeowner’s illegal growing operation.

He shot the homeowner in the chest, who was sent to
Harborview Medical Center in critical condition. Relatives
told KOMO News that he died.

On Sunday afternoon, a man was found shot in the knee near
Greenwood Park. He refused to cooperate with police,
keeping silent about any details of the shooting.

“We’re not sure if it’s all gang-related,” said assistant
Police Chief Paul McDonagh. “The problem, we think, is
that people are finding guns as the answer to solve
problems.”

There have been 15 homicides in Seattle already this year,
including two where innocent bystanders were killed by
bullets intended for someone else.

So far, only the suspect in the Seattle Center shooting
has been arrested, and there are only vague descriptions
in the other cases.