Local

Investigation underway after gunfire near grocery store, car crash

LYNNWOOD, Wash. — Police are investigating after shots were fired near a grocery store at a shopping center in Lynnwood on Saturday evening.

Officers were called at 5:27 p.m. to a scene near a Safeway, located in the 19500 block of Highway 99, where the gunfire rang out.

When police arrived, they said multiple bullet casings were found in the alley between two stores just north of the Safeway.

Police said it appeared no one was injured, but a Mercedes possibly involved crashed in the 6200 block of 194th Street Southwest.

The damaged car was still running with a deployed airbag but no one was in the car, authorities said.

While officers continued to investigate, witnesses told them someone with a gun may have entered the Safeway. Officials said officers evacuated the grocery store as a safety measure and several other stores were put on lockdown.

Police spoke with a 23-year-old man who they say identified himself as the security guard for the James Village shopping center and he told them he was involved in a disturbance with a group that had fled the scene, officials said.

A 20-year-old man connected with the crashed car was hiding but came forward and spoke with police, according to officials.

In officers’ preliminary investigation, they said the security guard and the group associated with the crashed car might have been involved in an earlier confrontation, which led to the group returning and that is when shots were fired.

No one was injured.

Detectives are still investigating and reviewing potential surveillance videos to try and piece together what unfolded as no one has been arrested.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Detective Bucholtz at 425-670-5623 or leave an anonymous tip at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).