SEATTLE — Three people were killed and six more were injured in a mass shooting early Sunday morning in Seattle's Mount Baker neighborhood, according to the Seattle Police Department.
Seattle police officers responded to reports of multiple gunshots at a business in the 2200 block of Rainier Avenue South just before 4:30 a.m. Sunday.
Arriving officers found three gunshot victims at the scene and provided aid until Seattle Fire Department medics arrived, police said. Two victims were pronounced dead at the scene and the third victim was transported to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition where she ultimately died.
Police said more gunshot victims arrived at Harborview while officers were still at the shooting scene. According to Harborview, six other people are being treated with one in critical condition.
The three people that were killed include a 22-year-old man, 30 -year-old woman, and a 33-year-old man. The victim currently in critical condition is a 23-year-old man. The victims in stable condition range in age from 21 to 38.
Police said during a media briefing Sunday afternoon the shooting took place inside a hookah lounge. Officers recovered five guns. Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz said 869 guns have been seized so far in 2023, the highest in 13 years.
Police said they believe Rainier Hookah Lounge's owner was trying to shut the business down for the night. Instead, gunfire erupted.
Investigators are determining what led up to the shooting and the suspects involved.
During the media briefing, Diaz made comments about shootings in the city as a whole. Diaz said that while the city is seeing a good trend in a reduction of shootings happening on a daily occurrence, it's seeing more rounds being fired.
“That's really what we're also trying to figure out," Diaz said. "How do we stop this? How do we make our communities safer? It seems like every incident that we're coming across, people are having a gun. Whether it's, you know, whether it's drug-related, whether it's conflict-related, sometimes it's drive-by, sometimes it's road rage, sometimes it's domestic violence, but it seems like everybody is carrying a gun. And that is something that we got to figure out how to address.”
At a neighboring eatery, an employee who preferred not to be identified said he had worried about this.
"I talked to my manager, it was just a matter of time," he said. "Youngsters start coming in, all the people start coming... they’re getting to be a hassle.”
The worker said over the course of the last four or five months, he's found evidence each weekend in their shared parking lot of the hookah lounge’s popularity with partiers, including empty alcohol bottles.
"A bunch of broken glass, money, earrings, all kinds of stuff in the parking lot," he said.
Diaz took the opportunity to urge gun owners in the community to do everything they can to safely secure them.
"This is the way we contribute to making sure we reduce that level of violence in our community," Diaz said.
Police asked anyone with information about this incident, to call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Download our free KING 5 app to stay up-to-date on news stories from across western Washington.