5 shot in Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood
Five people were wounded, one critically, in a late Friday shooting in Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood that saw “dozens and dozens” of bullets fired during a community outreach event, said police Chief Adrian Diaz.
The people injured were in their 20s and attending a pop-up that each Friday works to help people by providing food and services, Diaz said at a news conference at about 10:30 p.m.
One man was in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center, while two other men and a woman were being treated at the hospital for injuries that were not considered life-threatening, according to a hospital spokesperson. The fifth victim was treated at the shooting scene, Diaz said.
Police were searching for at least two suspects.
It was not immediately known, Diaz said, if the victims were targeted or what unfolded before the shots were fired.
The shooting, which occurred just before 9 p.m. in the 9200 block of Rainier Avenue South in front of what was once a King Donut shop, drew a massive police response and brought Mayor Bruce Harrell and Diaz to the scene.
“Honestly, this is really disturbing,” Diaz said, “when you have victims that were really just trying to do an outreach effort, trying to help people…get people on the right path- And this is what they end up getting hit with.”
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Shantel Patu, executive director of Urban Family, a group that focuses on youth programs, neighborhood safety and family support, came to the scene after her group was contacted to aid police in their investigation by managing the crowd and helping people affected by the shooting. She said the Friday event often gives away food, toys and clothes.
With shootings occurring so often in Seattle, it’s time for the community to do more and for parents to look inside their homes, at what their kids are doing and what they’re going through, she said.
Patu said more must be done to deal with poverty. Kids are suffering because of it, she said, and often don’t see a way out and might turn to violence, she said.
Source: The Seattle Times
