Police believe three suspects were involved in a shooting at a food festival near Seattle's Space Needle on Sunday evening that killed two others and wounded four, according to court documents. One suspect was killed during the incident, and a 15-year-old was arrested in connection with the shooting, police said in a document filed in juvenile court in Seattle. A third suspect is still on the loose and has not been identified, police said.
"Based on the evidence at the scene, investigators believe" the 15-year-old "and one of the deceased engaged in a gunfight with at least one other unknown suspect," the document obtained by The Associated Press said. Earlier, officials clarified that no one had been detained on homicide charges. The teen in custody was booked as part of a firearm and assault investigation, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said at a news conference on Monday.
The teen waived his initial court appearance Monday, his lawyer told CBS News. Seattle Assistant Police Chief Tyrone Davis earlier Monday said officers working in the area rushed in and confronted one shooter, which kept more people from being wounded. Two guns were recovered, he added.
Seattle Police Department Assistant Chief of Investigations Nicole Powell said the shooting "could be gang related." Seven people were shot in all, officials said. CPR on two wasn't successful and they were pronounced dead at the scene. They were identified Monday by the King County medical examiner as Junior Cee Niko Semo, 19, and Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44.
A third victim, 56-year-old Ashley Whitehead, later died at Harborview Medical Center. Semo's cause of death was listed as multiple gunshot wounds. Villalba died of a gunshot wound to the torso and Whitehead suffered a gunshot wound to the pelvis, the medical examiner said.
A 2-year-old boy, 39-year-old woman and 23-year-old man were also taken to Harborview and were in stable condition, Davis said, adding that a 40-year-old woman with minor injuries didn't want to go to the hospital but showed up later at the University of Washington Medical Center. The shooting occurred around 6 p.m. local time.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Sunday night that several of its agents were at the scene and that Seattle police would lead the investigation. Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said the state SWAT team also responded at the request of Seattle police.
The Seattle Center is a popular tourist location that includes the iconic Space Needle and Climate Pledge Arena, home of the Seattle Kraken and Seattle Storm. The area was filled with people attending the annual Bite of Seattle food festival when the gunfire rang out. Several witnesses told CBS Seattle affiliate KIRO-TV they heard multiple shots before running away.
"At first, thought there were fireworks, and then everybody flooded and ran past us," Nick Bate told the station. Leanne Coles told KIRO, "Everybody started running, and so we just ran too, and we ran through the garden and we ducked and we decided to keep running with the crowd until we got — I looked up for the Space Needle to try to keep track of where we were. It was really scary." The shooting in Seattle brought the total number of mass shootings in the U.S.
this year to 271, according to the Gun Violence Archive which tracks gun violence in all 50 states. The tally includes incidents where four or more people were shot, not including the gunman. The numbers so far put 2026 on track to exceed the total of 407 mass shootings nationwide in 2025.
That's down from a peak of 611 mass shootings across the U.S. in 2021. Carter Evans and Anna Schecter contributed to this report.
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