(Image: CHS)
Four people were reported injured in an overnight shooting at Broadway at Pike and officers scrambled amid more gunfire as they investigated the scene. The shooting happened outside the fences of the Capitol Hill Block Party and hours after the second day of the festival.
Seattle Police said it was investigating a shooting but did not immediately provide additional details. UPDATE: SPD confirmed four shooting victims in its investigation and said the shooting came during an “illegal street racing event” that took shape at the intersection.
According to East Precinct and emergency radio updates, around 20 shots were reported just before 4 AM Sunday around the still-crowded area of Broadway and Pike.
Tape and evidence markers were still in place after dawn Sunday (Image: CHS)
SPD and Seattle Fire were responding to shooting victims at Broadway and Pike and another reported near Broadway and Howell. There were conflicting reports of between two to four people shot at Broadway and Pike including one reported 17-year-old female who had been shot in the leg. A man was also shot in the leg. Another victim at Broadway and Pike, a woman in her 40s, was reported shot in the head in the gunfire. SFD reported transporting two people to Harborview while a third was taken to the hospital by a private ambulance. About 15 minutes after the shooting, another person reportedly shot in the melee arrived at Harborview.
Police were searching for a suspect reported fleeing the area and at least one vehicle reported speeding from the scene. Multiple vehicles were also reported to have been stolen according to a 911 report that came in during the shooting response, according to East Precinct radio.
More gunfire rang out in the area 20 minutes after the initial shooting. Seattle Police rushed to the area around Harvard and Pike and reported at least six people detained. There were no additional reported injuries following the second shooting incident and no reported arrests.
Police had already been busy at the intersection earlier Sunday as nightlife crowds gathered to watch “sideshow” activities with drivers spinning donuts and peeling out on the busy street.
The street racing was caught on the SDOT traffic camera at the intersection
UPDATE: Police say they started to attempt to disperse the crowds first reported around 1:30 AM but “were met with resistance.”
“Officers remained in the area to respond to life-safety events,” SPD reports.
SPD says it is not yet identified any suspects and asked anyone with information to call its Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.
Officers were still on the scene and had the area cordoned off with police tape as evidence markers were placed near shell casings around Broadway and Pike past dawn.
The Block Party’s gates were scheduled to open for Sunday’s third day at 1 PM as police continued to collect evidence and tape off the area around the shooting west of the festival’s main stage.
The intersection was the scene of a homicide earlier this month in an overnight stabbing caught on a city traffic camera that left a 45-year-old dead.
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