Frozen copy retrieved 2026-07-28T02:00:00Z for audit 2026-07-28T02-17-29Z. Original URL: https://apnews.com/article/seattle-center-shooting-food-festival-space-needle-90548c65364e742a97fb7cb0fea31209. The Stochastic Parrot does not host or redistribute; this snapshot exists solely so that quoted spans remain verifiable if the original page changes. Character offsets below index into this plain text; highlighted spans are the quotes cited in the audit.

A shootout that killed 3 at a food festival near Seattle's Space Needle may have been gang-related

AP · back to the audit
A suspect arrested after a shootout that killed three people and left at least four others injured at a crowded food festival near Seattle's Space Needle over the weekend is 15 years old, the city's mayor said Monday. Police said Monday that there were at least three suspects involved in a food festival shooting near Seattle's Space Needle over the weekend, and that one of them was among those killed in the violence. In a document filed in juvenile court in Seattle, the 15-year-old arrested in the case waived his initial appearance Monday. Police believe there were at least three shooters: the 15-year-old, an acquaintance who died at the scene, and at least one other unknown suspect. Seattle Police Department's assistant chief of investigations, Nicole Powell, indicated that the shooting may have been gang-related, with two groups firing at each other. The deceased shooter was identified as 19 years old. The 15-year-old is being held in juvenile detention for investigation of firearms violations and first-degree assault. The King County prosecutor's office is expected to receive the case for a charging decision. The King County Medical Examiner's Office identified the deceased victims as Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44; Ashley Whitehead, 56; and Junior Cee Niko Semo, 19. The four wounded included a 2-year-old boy who was reported to be in satisfactory condition. The others were two men aged 23 and 27, and a woman aged 39. News that there were at least three suspects followed a series of confusing statements from city officials concerning the shooting. On Sunday, the police department waited five hours to share with the public that one shooter had been arrested and that they believed another to be on the loose. Earlier, Mayor Katie Wilson had announced two people were in custody, a statement she retracted. At a news conference before the court hearing Monday, Police Chief Shon Barnes said investigators weren't sure if the second shooter was among the dead. Neither he nor the mayor made any reference to additional shooters. Barnes had been out of town Sunday, attending a conference of Black law enforcement executives in Dallas. The King County Medical Examiner's Office on Monday identified the dead as Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44; Ashley Whitehead, 56; and Junior Cee Niko Semo, 19.