(The Center Square) – A 15-year-old was in custody Monday, charged with suspicion of assault and firearms violations following the shooting deaths of three people at the Seattle Center Sunday night.
Officials said a 19-year-old was died following a shootout, and two other bystanders, a 44-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman, were also killed, at the Bite of Seattle food festival, officials said Monday afternoon.
“At this point we believe this could be gang related,” said Assistant Seattle Police Chief Nicole Powell, who is leading the investigation, at a late Monday afternoon press conference.
Officials said the deceased 19-year-old, Junior Cee Niko Semo, was likely known by the 15-year-old in custody.
Powell said detectives are still reviewing videos from buildings in the Seattle Center area to help determine more details of what happened.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said a suspect was still on the loose during the press conference.
While information was scant at the afternoon press conference, court documents present a slightly more detailed picture.
They show that King County Superior Court Judge Tanya L. Thorp ordered the 15-year-old youth to remain in secure detention until Monday afternoon after determining there was probable cause to hold him on three counts of first-degree assault and one count of second-degree illegal firearm possession.
A Seattle Police report filed with the court showed that a police sergeant responded to immediate gunfire around 6 p..m. Sunday at the food festival to find the 15-year-old teenage boy actively firing a handgun into a crowd less than 100 feet away.
The officer immediately took the juvenile into custody and recovered the handgun, the report said.
In the direction where the suspect had been pointing his weapon, officers discovered three wounded victims, including an individual who was riding a bicycle at the time of the shooting, the report said.
Several others were also injured, including a 2-year-old who remains in satisfactory condition in Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
One individual was treated on the scene of the food festival. The other three, a 23-year-old man, a 27-year-old man, and a 39-year-old woman, were treated and discharged from the hospital.
The shooting happened on the last day of the three-day food festival, causing a rush of visitors to quickly leave the grounds of the 74-acre Seattle Center, site of the Space Needle and 1962 World’s Fair.
The festival is one of Seattle’s most popular and attracts around 300,000 people over the course of three days.
Wilson and Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes said at Monday’s morning news conference that the shooting highlighted the need to address gun violence in the city.
Barnes said gun violence in Seattle was mostly caused by small groups of people. He cited data that 52% of gun violence was committed by 0.01% of the population, many of whom are young people.
“We understand that people are angry,” Barnes said. “You should be. Everyone should be angry, but with that anger you should also be asking yourself what can I do to prevent this.”
Wilson made her statement about gun violence Monday afternoon.
“This is weighing on all of us right now, certainly weighing on me,” she said. “I also want to recognize that we’ve had a number of tragic incidents of gun violence this year and all of them, I take very seriously. I think everyone deserves to be safe in our city, in our neighborhoods, in all of our public space.”
Several Seattle City Council members also released statements regarding the shooting on Monday.
“South Seattle is home to the highest levels of youth gun violence in the city – we know what we need to do,” wrote City Councilmember Eddie Lin. “We must invest our time and resources with an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach.”
Councilmember Maritza Rivera wrote, “This type of senseless gun violence is why I feel so strongly that the City of Seattle needs to take more aggressive action and partner with the National Network for Safe Communities, at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The NNSC offers a proven, collaborative approach to reducing gun violence in major cities, like Seattle.”
Councilmember Bob Kettle wrote, “In the face of this tragedy, we must fully commit to a comprehensive approach to strengthening public safety across our city. I’ll continue to prioritize and drive this critical work within the Public Safety Committee, and I strongly urge the Wilson administration to partner in this effort. Only by working together can we build a safer Seattle.”
The shooting has also renewed the controversy over security crime cameras in the city.
Wilson first revealed Monday afternoon that cameras at the Seattle Center were being checked to help with the investigation.
But Wilson, in response to reporters’ questions Monday, again expressed concern about the use of the cameras in general, saying she was “balancing different kinds of safety.”
The mayor deactivated cameras around Lumen Field after the conclusion of FIFA World Cup matches and had halted the use of other city cameras while a study is being done to examine privacy issues.
Wilson previously cited the potential for federal immigration agents to use the video information in immigration actions.
Wilson also defended at the morning press conference the lack of information about the shooting initially. While the incident happened at 6 p.m on Sunday, a press conference was not held until around five hours later.
Wilson said the delay was so accurate information could be given to reporters.
A Seattle police official said at the Sunday night press conference that the delay was occurring to make sure all officials were there.
One of the attendees was Gov. Bob Ferguson. The governor’s spokesperson Brionna Aho said he was at a location within 10 minutes of Seattle Center by 9 p.m.
“At approximately 10:10 p.m., the Governor received word there would be a media availability at Seattle Center. He immediately proceeded there and arrived at Seattle Center at approximately 10:30,” she said.
Barnes did not attend the Sunday night press conference. He said Monday morning that he had been traveling from Dallas, where he had attended a police conference.
He also was not present at the press conference on Monday afternoon. Wilson said that Powell was the appropriate person to be there because she was heading the investigation.