Police say they are investigating a downtown Seattle shooting that left one person dead and seven others injured.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday night, Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best said the shooting was not a random incident but the result of a dispute in front of a McDonald’s in the area.
The area where the shooting took place — 3rd Avenue and Pine Street — is a typically high-volume intersection that has heavy traffic.
Best said investigators believe there were multiple shooters involved, and that the city’s homicide, crime scene investigation and gang unit are now investigating the case.
A tweet from the Seattle Police Department Wednesday night said that the “suspect(s)” fled the scene.
Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins said authorities began to receive calls of the shooting at around 5 p.m.
Initially, it was believed that five people were sent to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center with gunshot wounds however, a hospital spokesperson later confirmed that a total of seven people were being treated.
One woman, believed to be about 55 years old, was listed as in critical condition along with a nine-year-old child. Five others, all believed to be male, were in “satisfactory” condition.
Tweets from both the Seattle Mayor’s Office and the Seattle Fire Department have said that traffic and transit in the core are now experiencing significant delays, and are urging people to avoid the area if possible.
This is the second shooting Seattle police have responded to today.
Reports of a shooting at the Blanchard area earlier on Wednesday resulted in the suspect being transported to hospital for non life-threatening injuries.
There were no other reports of injuries.
Both shootings follow another incident on Tuesday, Jan. 21, in which a man was killed by gunfire at Seattle’s Westlake Center.
— with files from the Associated Press
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