17-year-old shot in back near Southcenter Mall

TUKWILA, Wash. — A shooting near Westfield Southcenter Mall ended in chaos as police chased five people during rush hour who later bailed out of a car.

The pursuit ended at a solid waste transfer station off Orillia Road. Tukwila police said some of the people in the vehicle ran while others hid in the woods. All five were arrested with the help of a K-9 unit.

"We set up a perimeter where we could corral or detain the subjects,” said Eric Drever, a commander with the Tukwila Police Department.

Tukwila police said the suspects had been involved in a brawl with about a dozen people at the mall three and a half miles away from where they were arrested.

“There was a whole bunch of police over there, some of them ran behind the building, guns drawn,” said Colin Krimer, who works at a golf pro shop next to a bank. He watched as paramedics worked to stabilize the gunshot victim.

“There was one point where they moved him weird and he made kind of a holler,” Krimer said.

Police say the 17-year-old victim wasn't shot at the bank, he just collapsed there. The fight started one block away but the people involved scattered. Police detained several as witnesses.

Krimer only saw the aftermath, and he said that was pretty jarring.

"We were kind of like 'whoa, cops running all over,'” he said.

Tukwila police said a pursuit during rush hour can be dangerous but they believed the people in the car were a greater danger to the public.

They said the teen shot in the back was listed in serious condition when he was taken to Harborview Medical Center.

KIRO