Deputies find gunshot victim dead in vehicle after car crash in Burien

KING COUNTY, Wash. — A young man is dead after a shooting and crash in Burien.

The car crashed through the fence at a home near South 120th Street and Fifth Avenue South just before 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

Neighbors initially thought it was just a crash, but then deputies found a driver with at least one gunshot wound. They tried to save him, but he died at the scene.

Neighbor David Naccarato said he first noticed something was going on when he saw a car speeding through the neighborhood.

“About 2:10 p.m. or something, there was a car that came racing by,” Naccarato said. “About 10 minutes later, then I heard a crash,” he said.

“As I wheeled up there (in a scooter) to see the scene, all of a sudden police were racing — a bunch of police came racing up,” Naccarato said.

A car had crashed through one fenced wall of the neighbor’s home and rammed into a perpendicular wall as well. Naccarato said it was the same car that had been speeding.

The King County Sheriff’s Office confirmed deputies found the driver had been shot. Multiple gunshot holes were visible in one of the car windows.

“It was kind of scary, yeah,” Naccarato said. He said there are a lot of children and pets in the neighborhood.

Sgt. Tim Meyer with the King County Sheriff’s Office said before the crash that they got reports of gunshots heard near the 7-Eleven about a half-mile away.

“Major crimes detectives are going to determine what, if any, connection is between that report and this event here,” Meyer said.

Family members came to the crash scene this evening to grieve.

“I’ve known him since he was 3 years old,” said Atilano Alejandre, a step-uncle. “We are all brokenhearted right now,” he said.

Their family is also looking for answers.

“I’m pretty sure somebody knows. If somebody has a good heart as a human, step up and say something,” Alejandre said.

They said the young man who died was 20 years old.

“Good kid. He was working, gone to school and everything. Just like our family, every time we celebrate together for his birthdays, camping and stuff. It’s so sad,” Alejandre said.

KCSO stated it had no information yet on any potential suspects.

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