Two dead and five injured in mass shooting at Seattle food festival
A mass shooting at a popular food festival in the shadow of the Space Needle left two people dead and five others injured on Sunday evening, sparking chaos as crowds fled for safety, SCMP reports.
The gunfire erupted just after 6 p.m. at the Seattle Center outdoor events complex, where thousands had gathered for the annual Bite of Seattle festival. Emergency responders pronounced two victims dead at the scene after life-saving efforts proved unsuccessful.
Paramedics transported four patients to Harborview Medical Center for gunshot wounds. A 56-year-old woman remains in serious condition, while a 2-year-old boy, a 23-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman are stable. A fifth surviving victim, a 40-year-old woman, sustained minor injuries and declined hospital transport.
Police have not released details about any suspects, and it remains unclear whether anyone is in custody. Officers from multiple agencies, including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, secured the area and began interviewing witnesses.
Panic at Seattle festival
Vendor booths lined the sprawling cultural centre when the violence broke out. Witnesses described a confusing initial sequence of noises followed by sheer panic as the reality of the situation set in.
Paul Skinner, who was working at a Filipino food booth, said he initially mistook the gunshots for fireworks before the mood shifted abruptly.
«Mobs of people started flooding back down,» Skinner said. «I just told our staff to get down.»
Another witness, Faith Adia Hunter, told reporters she had just bought food from a crepe stall when the shooting started nearby.
«We were right next to him when it started, so we took off running,» Hunter said.
Festival attendee Estan Wakonabo described the scene as pure chaos, noting that the event was so crowded people could barely move between food lines even before the gunfire began. He recalled seeing attendees trample one another in a desperate bid to escape.
Evacuations and immediate response
Footage shared on social media captured the frantic moments as people sprinted through aisles of vendors and jumped fences to evade the shooter.
Authorities immediately ordered the public to avoid the area northwest of the city centre. The Seattle Center Monorail suspended its operations for the remainder of the evening following the incident. The venue, a major tourist destination built for the 1962 World’s Fair, also houses the Climate Pledge Arena, home to the Seattle Kraken ice hockey team.
Detectives are working to determine what prompted the attack. The investigation remains active as authorities appeal for any video footage or witness testimony that could help identify the shooter.
