News

Officers shoot gunman outside of South Lake Union restaurant

SEATTLE — Officers shot a gunman who fired shots into a South Lake Union restaurant crowd early Sunday morning, said the Seattle Police Department.

The incident started in the parking lot of Citrus Restaurant and Tapas Grill in the 1000 block of Fairview Avenue North as a crowd was leaving the establishment around 1:57 a.m.

Earlier in the evening, the establishment’s security called 911 to warn police that there might be trouble with the crowd during closing time.

The Seattle Police Department’s Gang Unit detectives responded to the location to monitor the crowd as they left.

Police said detectives saw a 22-year-old man who opened fire into the crowded parking lot of the establishment, and ran across Fairview Avenue North still armed.

Two detectives then opened fire and struck the shooter, according to police.

“The detectives saw the suspect pull a gun, and point it towards them. Two of the three gang detectives fired at the suspect. Hitting him,” said

Officers took the man into custody, and detectives recovered his gun.

Medics responded to the scene and took the man to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. He will be booked into the King County Jail upon his release from the hospital.

According to police, there may have been more than one person shooting in the parking lot of the restaurant, and the unknown shooter still remains at large.

Police said a 26-year-old man claimed to have been struck by gunfire in parking lot flagged down police a couple blocks from the restaurant. An officer called medics to the location and he was taken to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

No officers were injured during the incident.

The Seattle Police Department will place the involved officers on paid administrative leave.

The department’s homicide and CSI detectives will continue to investigate the shooting.

KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Deborah Horne spoke with Jenna Shannon-GarveyO’Brien, an employee at a neighboring restaurant, who said her general manager called her and other employees about the shooting.

“We don’t know if it was from bullets, but there was a glass all over the parking lot,” said Shannon-GarveyO'Brien. “To Say that there were police everywhere and that there was apparently another shooting.”

About 11 months ago, there was another shooting at the restaurant, and police told KIRO 7 that officers know the restaurant well.

“Yeah, we’ve been here many times on a number of different occasions. I can’t go into specifics of what that is, but we’re very familiar with this establishment,” Metz said.