SEATTLE (AP) — The bullets that killed two bystanders during a shootout at a crowded Seattle food festival last weekend do not appear to have come from the gun that a 15-year-old arrested at the scene was firing, police said in court documents filed Wednesday.
The King County prosecutor’s office filed charges of first-degree assault with a firearm enhancement as well as unlawful possession of a handgun by someone under 18. In a statement supporting the charges, police said the teen was seen firing an untraceable ghost gun into a crowd, but preliminary testing of bullets recovered from the two bystanders killed showed they did not match that weapon.
Shell casings found at the scene of Sunday’s shooting indicate four weapons were fired during the shootout, the document said.
Police say a 19-year-old suspect died in the gunbattle, and that as police escorted the 15-year-old past that suspect's body, the 15-year-old said, “Love you bro.”
Police have been trying to identify at least one other person involved in the shooting. The statement did not indicate who might have fired the bullets that killed the bystanders.
The shooting in the waning hours of the three-day Bite of Seattle festival left three people dead, including a 19-year-old gunman, and at least four people injured, including a toddler. Authorities say they believe the violence was gang-related, and they are reviewing any available surveillance video and interviewing victims and witnesses in an effort to identify others who may have been involved.
An eighth person with a possible gunshot wound checked themself into a Seattle hospital after the shooting, but checked out before investigators could conduct an interview, Police Chief Shon Barnes said Tuesday. Legal obstacles have prevented detectives from obtaining the patient’s identity, he added. It’s unclear if the injury was related to the festival shooting or whether the person might have been involved in it, but Barnes asked for the person to come forward and speak with investigators.
Prosecutors on Wednesday asked a judge to move the case to adult court, a decision that can take months after the judge considers arguments from both sides.
If the teen is convicted as an adult, the charges would carry a sentencing range of about eight to 10 years in prison, plus possibly another five years for the firearm enhancement. However, judges in Washington may also choose to sentence juveniles as juveniles even if they are convicted in adult court.
In juvenile court, the charges would carry a sentencing range of two to 2 1/2 years. It was not immediately clear whether the firearm enhancement might add additional time in juvenile detention.
