Driver fleeing scene of shooting near UW hits, kills 21-year-old pedestrian

SEATTLE — A driver fleeing the scene of a reported University District shooting hit and killed a pedestrian with their vehicle on Saturday morning.

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Police initially received a report of shots fired west of the University of Washington’s Parrington Lawn just after midnight on Saturday. It is unclear at this time as to whether anyone was injured in the reported shooting itself. But shortly after responding, officers learned at the scene that the driver of a vehicle that was fleeing the scene had hit a 21-year-old “a few blocks away.”

The driver is not believed to be have been involved with the shooting itself. Police took them into custody shortly after the incident, but later released them.

One man who works near the incident described what he saw.

“I go back to the kitchen to see what’s going on. I see a guy who comes out. He pulls out a gun. And I was like bro that’s wild!,” Rami said.

The noise of everything also woke up people who live at the apartment right near by. Andrew, who lives in the building, says he also heard cars driving away.

“I was sleeping on my couch when I heard several loud bangs in a row that woke me up,” Andrew said.

The news of this fatal hit and run do have UW students worried as they hope to have a safe semester going forward.

“It’s a mixture of kind of shocked because where I am from, that’s not very common,” Hansika, a Freshman at UW, said.

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SPD detectives are looking into the details of the incident, and are urging anyone with information to call the department’s tip line at (206) 233-5000.

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