Belltown homicide suspect approached, fired into car, police say
A 30-year-old man remains in King County custody on allegations of firing a gun into a car Tuesday morning in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood, killing a pregnant woman and injuring a man.
Video recovered from the neighborhood shows no previous interaction between the man and the Tesla he’s accused of shooting up around 11 a.m. at Fourth Avenue and Lenora Street, according to a probable cause statement.
The 34-year-old woman in the car was 32 weeks pregnant and was shot multiple times. Her baby was emergently delivered at Harborview Medical Center and survived for a short time before dying, according to the statement.
A 37-year-old man who was shot in the arm remains hospitalized at Harborview.
The suspect’s motivations remained unclear Wednesday. The probable cause statement said a man approached the car while it was stopped at an intersection and shot at the driver’s side before running away.
The statement said he had no known interaction with the victims before drawing a handgun.
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The suspect told police he saw a firearm in the vehicle and reacted by firing into the car, but video evidence isn’t consistent with his statement, according to the probable cause documents.
The Seattle Times is not naming the suspect because he hasn’t yet been charged in connection with the shooting. Charges are expected later this week.
The man is being held on investigation of homicide, assault and unlawful possession of a firearm. A King County Superior Court judge found probable cause Wednesday to hold the man on investigation of all three allegations, according to a Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson.
The woman and man were shot while traveling north on Fourth Avenue. Callers to 911 reported hearing shots fired into an occupied car and seeing a man running from the scene, according to police.
Shortly after the shooting, police found a suspect that matched the witnesses’ description. When officers approached the man, he raised his arms and said “I did it, I did it,” according to police.
Two witnesses separately identified the man in custody as the shooter, according to the probable cause statement.
A semiautomatic handgun was found at the scene. It was empty of ammunition, according to the statement.
Source: The Seattle Times
