Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Teen Charged After Seattle Festival Shootout as Ballistics Point to Other Shooters

Preliminary testing that shows the fatal bullets did not match the teen’s recovered ghost gun raises urgency to identify additional, unidentified shooters and missing weapons.

Overview

  • A gunfight at the Bite of Seattle food festival left three people dead and several wounded, including a toddler, during the event on Sunday, police say.
  • King County prosecutors charged a 15-year-old with first-degree assault with a firearm enhancement and unlawful possession and have asked a judge to move the case to adult court and keep him in secure detention.
  • Preliminary ballistics presented in court filings indicate the bullets that killed two bystanders did not come from the Polymer80 'ghost gun' recovered from the teen.
  • Shell-casing analysis suggests up to four weapons were fired; officers recovered three guns but forensic work shows only two had been fired, meaning some firearms tied to the shootout remain missing.
  • Investigators from local and federal agencies are reviewing surveillance and bodycam video and interviewing witnesses while forensic testing and a detention/hearing process proceed, and the defense says it will oppose the adult-transfer request.