Summary:
A drive-by shooting in South Seattle left an 18-year-old man with a grazing gunshot wound to the head. The incident triggered a police investigation across the Rainier Valley, and detectives are investigating the circumstances leading up to the shooting. In a separate incident, a 32-year-old man was arrested for multiple felony warrants following a vehicle prowl and shoplifting case. The suspect was wanted on $70,000 in felony warrants related to theft, vehicle prowling, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
A drive-by shooting in South Seattle Tuesday afternoon left an 18-year-old man injured, damaged a nearby business and triggered a multi-scene police investigation across the Rainier Valley.
Seattle police said the shooting occurred around 4:40 p.m. near Rainier Avenue South and South Othello Street, where officers recovered dozens of shell casings and evidence of gunfire. Authorities later identified two additional related crime scenes, including one near Holly Park Drive South and South Myrtle Place and another in front of the South Precinct.
According to police, the victims were inside a Tesla when suspects in another vehicle opened fire near the Rainier and Othello intersection. The driver, an 18-year-old man, was not injured. A passenger, also 18, sustained a grazing gunshot wound to the head.
Seattle Fire Department personnel treated the victim at the scene before transporting him to Harborview Medical Center in stable condition.
Police said the victims fled the scene following the shooting, driving toward the South Precinct, where officers later stopped the damaged vehicle. Investigators said multiple vehicles fled the area as gunfire erupted, and pedestrians ran for safety.
Detectives with the Gun Violence Reduction Unit are leading the investigation. Police searched the area but did not make any arrests. The circumstances leading up to the shooting remain under investigation, and anyone with information is asked to call the Violent Crimes Tip Line at 206-233-5000.
Earlier that evening, in a separate incident in South Seattle, officers arrested a 32-year-old man with multiple felony warrants following a vehicle prowl and shoplifting case.
Police responded around 8 p.m. to reports of a man breaking into an SUV in the 3800 block of Rainier Avenue South. The suspect fled on foot when officers arrived, prompting a brief chase before officers located him hiding under a nearby van.
According to police, the man was wanted on $70,000 in felony warrants related to theft, vehicle prowling and unlawful possession of a firearm. Officers also recovered a backpack containing stolen merchandise from a nearby store and a battery jump starter believed to have been taken during the vehicle prowl.
Police booked the suspect into the King County Jail on his outstanding warrants, as well as new charges related to shoplifting and vehicle prowling.