Two people are dead after two separate shootings in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood early Sunday morning.
One of those shootings happened after an illegal street racing takeover at 3rd and Clay St, which is right next to KIRO 7 studios and in the shadow of an apartment building.
“We were just up watching TV and hanging out in our apartment, and we heard the car racing going on, which typically happens at this intersection,” Heidi Hetzel said.
From her apartment window, Hetzel saw what KIRO 7 security cameras captured: cars zoomed around in circles at the intersection, as fireworks exploded in the street and a crowd of spectators grew.
Hetzel said illegal street takeovers have happened there before, but Sunday morning something else on a nearby sidewalk caught her attention. “My partner kept watching and said, ‘Oh no- they’re fighting,’ and so we kind of saw the altercation that went down.”
KIRO surveillance video shows two people punching each other and then what appears to be at least one person opening fire.
Seattle police were called to the scene at 12:42 AM, Detective Brian Pritchard wrote on the SPD blotter. Officers found two men who’d been shot. Both were transported to Harborview Medical Center, where one of them died.
Later, a man and woman – both with gunshot wounds – turned up at Harborview. Police say they are linked to the shooting.
Police aren’t saying the street takeover was connected.
But Lauren Goldman says her apartment building was damaged by gunfire during a takeover at the same intersection last year.
“It has been escalating,” she told KIRO 7. “I thought last year after the shooting that the police were being serious. I was like, okay, this will be the end of it. But no, as you can see, they’ve escalated because they’ve actually killed someone. There’s blood still here,” she said, glancing at the sidewalk. “Terrible,” she added, shaking her head.
Within less than two hours of the 3rd and Clay Street shooting, Seattle police were called to a separate shooting six blocks away at 3rd and Blanchard.
According to Det Pritchard, officers found a woman inside a car who had been shot in the head and torso. She was pronounced dead at Harborview Medical Center. Pritchard said it appeared that someone from outside the vehicle shot her, but he told KIRO 7 it’s unclear exactly how many gunmen might be involved in that case.
No arrests have been made in either case.
In a statement, Interim SPD Chief Andre Sayles said, “We will stand together with our community to bring justice to these victims and their loved ones. The Seattle Police Department is working around the clock to investigate these incidents.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Seattle Police Department Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.