Thanks to a CHS reader for this picture of part of the SPD response from the scene outside Washington Hall
Cars were damaged but there were no reported victims after gunfire sent crowds at a Sunday night show at Washington Hall fleeing into the streets around 14th Ave.
According to East Precinct and Seattle Fire radio updates, gunfire was reported just before midnight near the concert and community venue at 14th and Fir. Minutes later, more gunfire and a multi-car collision was reported at 12th and Yesler.
Police found two vehicles crashed at the location and one person injured. Two people reportedly fled one of the vehicles on foot, according to witness reports.
Prior to the crash, a rolling gun battle involving at least three different vehicles exchanging gunfire was reported in the area. At least one of the vehicles was involved in the crash.
Police were collecting multiple shell casings and recording evidence from vehicles damaged by gunfire and the collisions.
There were no reported injuries in the crowd from the Sunday night performance by hip hop artists DB Boutabag and Capolow. Saturday night, their Road Trip summer tour stopped through Portland. The Seattle stop had originally been scheduled for Genesee Hall in South Seattle, according to concert listings.
During the incident, police called in extra support for crowd control due to the large number of attendees in the area.
Across the multiple scenes, police found shell casings and collected evidence from the gunfire. Reports of rapidfire gunshots continued in the area throughout the police response including multiple shots north of Broadway and Columbia reported around 12:45 AM.
Police found no victims and no additional damage.
Streets in the area were closed by police during the response.
There were no reported arrests.
Seattle Fire says it treated two women in their 20s for minor injuries from the collision.
UPDATE: Here is how SPD’s brief reports the incident:
On 07-10-2022 at 2357 hours, officers responded to a concert hall in the area of 14 Av / E Fir St for a report of 50+ shots heard. Upon arrival, hundreds of people were fleeing in all directions on foot and in cars. Officers located two people who sustained injuries by trying to escape. Evidence of a shooting was located in the parking lot and throughout the block but no gunshot victims were located despite the density of the crowd. Patrol processed the scene and noted multiple damaged vehicles/buildings. A fleeing vehicle was involved in a collision nearby and was impounded to the processing room after the driver/occupants fled the scene. Then vehicle is believed to have been involved in the shooting.
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As usual SPD shows up to take notes…. Do they just sit around or do they ever prevent anything?
Huh? LOL
How would the cops have prevented someone in a car from pulling out a gun and firing at a crowd of hip-hop fans?
Same way they could prevent huge tent encampments from taking over public parks and sidewalks and addicts from openly using drugs anywhere they want: by demonstrating that they are capable of maintaining law and order and that there are consequences for illegal actions. Perhaps they can get some training from our sister third world cities.
Rovan Pippin. The SPD would love to have the resources to be proactive, they would also love to prevent the drug dealing and tent encampments however they are bound by city policies that the Mayor and council and in some cases judges have created. Just an example – We have 940 officers. Compare that to Boston (50k less in population) that has 2144 officers. Boston has a crime index 61 below the national average while Seattle has a crime index that is 136 above the national average. Ultimately the people have voted for what we are going through and we can vote for a better city in the future if we get with it.
This is where the community needs to step up and come forward and provide the police investigators car license plate information and shooter descriptions, as well as other information. If this doesn’t happen I fear more serious incidents will occur. The police and relevant authorities need assistance for solving these types of crimes.
Maybe you ask yourself why were there no fire and rescue on scene?
The venue seems too prominent in the headlines and stories about the incident which was unrelated to the event at Washington Hall. Perhaps the incident was more noticed due to the audience attending a show there and received more press. Initially the headline and story give the impression that somehow the shooting incident was related to the event at Washington Hall and followed it. Actually the show was still happening and the audience at first did think that shots were fired in the venue. Yes it had an impact on the audience and performers.