Preliminary testing showed the bullets that killed two bystanders during a shootout at a crowded Seattle food festival last weekend didn’t come from the gun a 15-year-old arrested at the scene was seen firing, police said in court documents filed Wednesday.
Shootout Details
The teen repeatedly shot an untraceable semi-automatic rifle into a crowd, police said, and the King County prosecutor’s office filed charges of first-degree assault with a firearm and unlawful possession of a handgun.
The shooting in the waning hours of the Bite of Seattle festival near the Space Needle left three people dead, including a 19-year-old suspect, and at least four bystanders injured, including a toddler. Police believe it was gang-related, and they continue searching for others who might have been involved.
Testing on shell casings found at the scene suggest four weapons were fired, the statement said. Police said they recovered three guns, but only two of them had been fired, which means two weapons involved in the gunbattle were not found at the scene.
Victim Identification
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the dead bystanders as Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44, and Ashley Whitehead, 56. The suspect killed was Junior Cee Niko Semo, 19.
Villalba was a husband and father of three known for his kindness and willingness to help others, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched Monday to help his family with funeral expenses.
Whitehead had just moved to Washington from Alabama a year ago and was enjoying the festival with one of her adult daughters when she was shot, her cousin Michelle Whitehead told The Associated Press.
Original reporting: Dallas TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.