Police investigating Pioneer Square shooting that left two injured

Shots blasted through Pioneer Square Sunday morning, sending people celebrating St. Patrick's Day running for cover. Now Seattle police are asking for help from witnesses as they search for the shooter.

The shooting happened just as the bars were closing near Second Avenue South and South Washington Street.

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The sounds of gunfire and sirens pierced the early morning hours in Pioneer Square.

"The dude say, 'Hey, man, you know, get away from my car,'" says Alfred "Rome" Dickerson, who says he heard someone say, "You know what I'm saying? 'Back up.'"

Dickerson stood not far from where the shooting happened just after 2:15 a.m. He says he heard an argument in a parking lot as the bars were emptying out, then gunfire; more than a dozen shots in all.

"Everybody ducking, everybody running that way, you know what i'm saying," said Dickerson.  "You know what happens when dudes start shooting."

On a tape that was sent to KIRO 7, there were at least three separate volleys of gunfire. Eyewitnesses say the shooting sparked a big response.

"Aid cars and police were just shooting down the street," said Ryan Lewis, who lives in a homeless encampment nearby. "I looked down the alley there. They had a body covered but he was still alive."

At least two men were hit, one 30-year-old and the other a 37-year-old.

So many bullets were fired that Seattle police were still responding Sunday afternoon to eyewitness reports of more shell casings being found; at least one live round, too. A man who did not want to talk on camera said his Jeep was also struck.

Detectives were still trying to determine if the victims were targets or simply caught in the crossfire. None of it is a surprise to those who frequent these streets.

"I'm used to it," said Lewis. "I'm used to this. This is normal."

The victims were transported to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. But a spokeswoman says at least one of victim is in intensive care.

Anyone who was in Pioneer Square and has not had a chance to talk to Seattle police, is asked to contact them.

They want to find whoever did this.

Cox Media Group