Seattle Police flooded the area around Pine and Melrose and a gunshot wound victim was reported at nearby Harborview Medical Center after another bout of gunfire outside Capitol Hill club the Mint Lounge. UPDATE: SPD says a second person was shot on the night and that more than 50 shots were fired around the Pine at Melrose club.
Police were called to a disturbance involving a large crowd outside the lower Pine club just before 2:30 AM. An officer reported shots fired as he arrived, according to East Precinct radio updates.
While no victims were identified at the scene, a male suffering a gunshot wound reportedly walked in to First Hill’s Harborview about 15 minutes later.
UPDATE: SPD said Sunday morning that a second gunshot wound victim arrived at Harborview later in the night with an injury to his arm but that the 33-year-old declined to say where the shooting had taken place.
SPD says the first man suffered a non life-threatening shooting injury to his leg in its brief on the incident:
At approximately 2:30 a.m., officers in their patrol car at the intersection of Boren Avenue and Pine Street heard gunshots from the 1200 block of Pine Street. Officers saw vehicles quickly leaving the area and people near a nightclub hiding behind cars. Police were at the scene almost immediately but found no victims.
Detectives with SPD’s Gun Violence Reduction Unit joined patrol officers to process the scene for evidence. Police recovered more than 50 shell casings in several sites around the block, and an apparent ghost gun. Officers also found two cars with ballistic damage, and several surrounding businesses with thousands of dollars in damage to their windows.
About fifteen minutes later, a 35-year-old man arrived at Harborview Medical Center with a gunshot wound to his leg. He told officers he had been shot near a club in the 1200 block of Pine Street.
Outside the Pine club, police were gathering shell casings reported up and down the street and found damage to at least one building where the nearby Rapha store on the next block reportedly had its window shattered during the shooting. Police say multiple buildings and vehicles were damaged.
SPD said one weapon recovered at the scene was a “ghost gun,” often guns assembled from kits or otherwise untraceable by authorities.
Police were looking for at least one vehicle reportedly involved in the incident but there were no immediate arrests. E Pine was closed to traffic eastbound during the response.
During the response, Seattle Fire was also in the area to handle a small fire reported at the Chamberlain House apartments at 1515 Belmont.
The shooting is the latest incident of gun violence reported around the club. In June, a gunfight outside the nightclub reportedly involved a patron and club security just before last call early on a Sunday.
In March, police were called to the area after reports of a dispute and threats of gun violence included a man reportedly shooting himself in the hand. In February, another shooting left shattered glass at a nearby restaurant, riddled parked vehicles with bullets, and sent bullets flying into nearby apartments. SPD typically responds with significant numbers of officers and emphasis patrol units to the hot spot including this major response to a fight outside the club earlier this year.
Last summer, CHS reported on the club’s new brand as the Mint Lounge. CHS reported on new owners Rachel Keith and Rahsaan Henry taking over the club in 2019.
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A cycle of down. Shut it.
Why does the Liquor Board allow such a hellhole of dangerous, disruptive, and violent behavior fester in my neighborhood? The Liquor Board needs to shut The Mint down immediately!!!
I encourage everyone to report Mint Lounge to the state liquor control board here: https://lcb.wa.gov/enforcement/report-violation
mention you see people with firearms inside, and lots of over service, as well as staff drinking.
Agreed. Shut this down. The club brings nothing to the neighborhood and the gun violence is just too much. Clearly club owners aren’t able to control it.
It is a public nuisance. Pull the liquor license.
Why hasn’t the Mint Lounge been shut down?
I encourage everyone to report Mint Lounge to the state liquor control board here: https://lcb.wa.gov/enforcement/report-violation
Good luck. I’ve submitted complaints for nearly every incident that’s been posted in CHS this year. I don’t think the LCB cares (at least not until multiple people are killed) or has the manpower.
This place is problematic, but maybe SPD could park a cruiser there for a while after closing time.
In order to *prevent* crime from happening? ;-)