1 injured in shooting at Seattle Center, suspect taken into custody

SEATTLE — A man was shot Saturday evening at Seattle Center during the Northwest Folklife Festival and a suspect was taken into custody after.

According to the Seattle Police Department, the shooting happened after 7 p.m. in the 400 block of Broad Street, just south of the Space Needle valet turnaround. The man was standing on the north sidewalk of the location waiting to cross Broad Street.

The incident started when another man walked up to the suspect and asked, “You from Yaks?”  They both did not know each other, police said.

The man walked away from the suspect. The suspect thought the man was asking if he was from Yakima.

After that incident, the suspect was hit over his left eye with a skateboard by the man, and then the suspect pulled out a .22 caliber revolver from his pocket and allegedly started shooting in the direction of the man who hit him with a skateboard, police said.

One of the bullets struck the man, who was waiting to cross Broad Street, in the right leg, according to police.

Police immediately arrived at the scene and cleared the area to get to the victim.

When police and medics got to the man, he told officers he heard gunshots as he was walking by Seattle Center.

KIRO 7 Eyewitness News spoke with several people at the festival who saw the incident.

Patrick Sage, an eyewitness, warned the crowd about the gunman.

“I was telling everyone to run away this guy’s got a gun, and run,” Sachs said. “What we heard was he (the suspect) was hit with a skateboard.”

“He ran towards the Center House, and started taking more shots,” Paul Allard, another eyewitness, said. “He was kind of shooting, like this, overhand, and thrusting his hand forward as he shot.

When the suspect ran towards the Center House, he was apprehended by Seattle police officers, and the gun was recovered.

The victim was treated at the scene and taken to Harborview Medical Center. He was treated and later released.

The suspect was also taken to Harborview Medical Center due to his head injury. He was eventually booked into King County Jail for investigation of assault. According to police, he is from the Kent area and is associated with a street gang.

In 2008, three people were injured in a shooting at the Folklife Festival. That was the festival’s first shooting.

KIRO