Officials may be searching for 1 or more suspects in Seattle food festival shooting
There may be multiple suspects at large in Sunday's shooting, officials said.
Investigators are still working on identifying who was involved in a deadly shooting at the Bite of Seattle food festival on Sunday, with officials saying it is possible they may still be searching for more than one suspect involved.
"Due to conflicting witness statements, we're trying to determine who was involved. Once we have that information, we will release that and the suspect description or suspects' description to the public," Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes said at a press conference Tuesday.
Two people were killed, and four others were shot after a "targeted gang-related" gunfight broke out and shots were fired into a crowd, Barnes said. Barnes said all six victims were "not related to the suspects in any way."
"They are innocent victims of this senseless act of gun violence," Barnes said.
A 15-year-old suspect is in custody, and another is dead following the gunfight, but it is possible there could be more suspects, Barnes said Tuesday.
The suspect killed was Junior Cee Niko Semo, a 19-year-old man believed to be an "associate" of the teen in custody, police said.
Barnes said investigators believe there is no danger to the public and that this was a targeted incident.
There may be a third possible suspect, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said during a press briefing Monday.
Authorities revealed Tuesday that a potential victim checked themselves into the University of Washington with a potential gunshot wound, but officials are currently unable to compel the hospital to identify the individual. Investigators asked the individual to reach out to investigators for an interview.
Investigators retrieved 14 shell casings from two different calibers of weapons while processing the scene, Barnes said Tuesday.
Three firearms were recovered, two of which are believed to have been fired in the gunfight, Barnes said. One of the firearms that was fired, a ghost gun, was recovered from the 15-year-old suspect, Barnes said.
Investigators have interviewed all survivors and multiple witnesses and will continue to do so in the coming days, officials said Tuesday.
Authorities were dispatched to the Seattle Center at about 6 p.m. Sunday.
"We now know that at least two people exchanged gunfire outside the Seattle Center Armory," Wilson said during a briefing Monday.
One is the teen in custody, and the second -- initially believed to be at-large -- has been identified as the 19-year-old deceased man, she said.
The 19-year-old man was detained at the same time as the 15-year-old, according to a court filing. The two "engaged in a gunfight with at least one other unknown suspect," during which the 15-year-old allegedly fired into a crowd, according to a probable cause statement filed in connection with the teen's detention hearing.
The 15-year-old was booked for investigation for firearms violations and first-degree assault, Wilson said at a news conference earlier Monday.
"We believe this teenager opened fire in the crowd, but details are still under investigation," Wilson said.
Seattle Assistant Police Chief Nicole Powell said Monday that the shooting is believed to be gang-related, and that there were "two groups firing" near the Armory during the food festival.
Police would not elaborate on whether the two identified suspects were working together or targeting each other, only saying they were associates and that it's an "active investigation."
The King County Medical Examiner's Office identified the two victims killed in the shooting as Ashley Whitehead, 56, and Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44, both of Seattle. They died from a gunshot wound to the pelvis and torso, respectively.
Three injured victims -- a 2-year-old boy, a 23-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman -- were hospitalized and have since been discharged, authorities said.
A fourth injured victim, a 40-year-old woman, had minor injuries and declined to be taken to the hospital, according to officials.
Police said they are also investigating a potential fifth wounded victim. A 27-year-old man with a gunshot wound went to a hospital in satisfactory condition and police said they are working to determine if this person was hurt in the shooting.
ABC News' Josh Margolin, Alex Stone and Amanda Morris contributed to this report.
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