BELLEVUE, Wash. — A housewarming party turned deadly Saturday night. Now Bellevue police are trying to determine why the party went so horribly wrong.
The deadly encounter happened in the Elements Apartment complex in downtown Bellevue.
The suspect is dead tonight, shot and killed by one of three people he allegedly stabbed. One of those victims also died.
Just the sight of the aftermath of a family housewarming party that ended in tragedy has horrified and enraged those living in these twin towers on the edge of downtown Bellevue.
“We had no shy of 50 emergency vehicles here last night,” said Jim Zeigler, who has lived at the Elements complex for nearly a dozen years.
He said in that time, the management had shared little with residents when calamity strikes.
“The building was shot at within the last year,” said Zeigler. “And the building adjacent to it ours was also shot at in a separate shooting within the last year. So this is really the third shooting on our block. And the community management fails to communicate any message.”
He said that happened again Saturday night.
Partygoers said the suspect, a 41-year-old Burien man, became violent without warning.
“He got belligerent drunk,” said a man who did not want to be identified. “Things escalated to a further extent. My friend was trying to watch him to make sure he’d be OK being drunk. They got into an argument.”
The suspect allegedly began lashing out.
“I didn’t know he had a knife,” said the man. “From what I know, nobody knew he had a knife.”
One victim pulled out his own weapon and shot and killed the suspect.
A 21-year-old Renton man died from the stab wounds. Two others were injured, a 24-year-old Oregon man and the 22-year-old Bellevue woman who was hosting the party.
Bellevue police Chief Steve Mylett told reporters on Sunday detectives are still searching for answers for the family’s sake.
“It’s always in the aftermath when someone loses their life in a violent act, there are people left behind with a ton of questions,” said Mylett. “And we’re going to do everything in our power to get those questions asked and answered.”
Mylett said residents should find some comfort in knowing this was not a random event.
But some residents said they don’t think the party should have been allowed at all during a pandemic.
And the party does seem to violate the governor’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order.
KIRO 7 will be asking questions about that this week.
Cox Media Group
