Local News

Updated at 7:05 p.m.

A 40-year-old man was shot several times Sunday evening while he was in his car near Rainier Avenue South and South Othello Street, Seattle police said.  

The victim kept driving, they said, until he  flagged down an officer at Rainier Avenue South and South Henderson Street.  He was taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Police had few details about the shooting, which occurred just before 6 p.m., or the shooter, who remains at large.  Police said they found a gun on the floor in the front of the victim’s car. 

Two men tied up a salon owner and two employees at a hair and nail salon on the 5600 block of Rainier Avenue South on Saturday evening, robbing them of jewelry and money.

No one was injured.

Seattle police said the attackers, one with a black and chrome handgun, burst into the salon at 6:10 p.m. and tied the victims, two women and one man.  They used scissors to cut off one employee’s bracelet and necklace, and also went through the employees’ purses, before leaving through the back door.

One of the victims broke free and called 911.

Police ask anyone with information to call 206-684-5535.

A pedestrian was seriously hurt in South Seattle last night after being struck by a car on Rainier Avenue South.

A 30-year-old woman was crossing Rainier Avenue South at South Forest Street about 11 p.m.when she was struck by a 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser, according to Seattle police.  The woman suffered serious injuries and was taken to Harborview Medical Center, according to police. r.

Police are investigating whether the woman was crossing the road legally.

The 46-year-old driver of the Toyota was not hurt. Drugs or alcohol are not believed to be a factor in the crash, police said.

UPDATE, 4:10 p.m. | The Seattle Fire Department estimates the cleanup of an ammonia leak at the Darigold plant on Rainier Avenue South will continue until 9 p.m. tonight. Firefighters are still pouring water on a frozen and broken ammonia pipe as it continues releasing dangerous levels of ammonia, according to a fire department release. As of this afternoon, ammonia levels at the evacuation perimeters are considered safe, the department said.

An ammonia leak at the Darigold milk processing plant on Rainier Avenue South has caused the evacuation of the building and has snarled traffic in the area.

A Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore said that at 7:35 a.m. workers inside the plant at 4058 Rainier Ave. S. “reported a large boom and saw a large cloud. They immediately evacuated.”

“We shut off a two block perimeter, evacuated a strip mall and a daycare center,” Moore said.

When haz-mat crews went inside the plant they had trouble seeing because of a dense fume cloud, Moore said. Just before 9:30 a.m., haz-mat crews found that the plant is still contaminated by ammonia fumes.

Moore said that they’re trying to ventilate the facility. Haz-mat crews aren’t sure when workers will be able to return inside.

Metro is asking that passengers who use routes 7 and 9 to use bus stops south of South Alaska Street or north of South McClellan Street.

This post will be updated when new information is available.

At least two people were shot along Rainier Avenue South in Seattle about 1:30 p.m. this afternoon when people in one vehicle shot at people in another vehicle, according to Seattle police.

The shooter or shooters are still on the loose. Police say the suspect vehicle is a gray GMC Yukon or Chevy Suburban with a red stripe on the side. It was seen heading north from the 800 block of Rainier Avenue South where the shooting occurred.

Four people in a vehicle were stopped by police at Fourth Avenue and Yesler Street a short time after the shooting, but after they were identified, they were released.

The two gunshot victims were taken to Harborview Medical Center. Relatives of one victim were told by hospital officials at the hospital this afternoon that neither shooting victim suffered life-threatening injuries.

A witness to the shooting, a 46-year-old Renton man on his lunch break, was about to turn left from South Dearborn Street onto Rainier Avenue South when he heard a loud bang seconds before the vehicle behind him lightly tapped his bumper.

“I knew it was a gunshot ,” he said. The man declined to give his name.

Though fearing for his safety, he got out of his car and saw the occupants of the vehicle behind him get out. Two men and a woman, he said.

One of the men was clutching his bleeding hand and the woman was clutching her side, saying “Oh my God.” and “I don’t believe it.”

The driver of the vehicle yelled at the Renton man to move, saying he was taking his friends to the hospital.

The Renton man drove around the block and the victims were gone by the time he returned.

The witness said he did not see the shooting suspects or their vehicle.