Local News

UPDATE: 9 p.m. | Police investigators have found no suspect or victims at the scene of shots fired in Rainier Beach, Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt said.

ORIGINAL POST | Seattle police are investigating reports of a man firing shots near 54th Avenue South and South Fletcher Street, per a tweet from the department.

A K-9 team is on its way. No suspects or victims have been reported, police said.

This post will be updated as more information becomes available.

For the second time this week, firefighters found a marijauna-grow operation after responding to a fire sparked by an illegal power diversion.

Two firefighters were hurt while dousing a house fire in the Skyway neighborhood. In the basement, firefighters were “shocked” by an “unsophisticated” wiring system which fed a marijuana crop of between 100 to 200 plants. The wiring was intended to illegally divert power, a common tactic by growers trying evade attention-drawing spikes in electrical usage.

Earlier this week, another shoddy wiring system appears to have caused a fire in a Rainier Valley restaurant which had a 481-plant marijuana grow in the basement.

The Associated Press

A shooting victim who lay dying in the parking lot of a south Seattle fast food restaurant as a hostile crowd challenged police officers has been identified.

The King County medical examiner’s office says 31-year-old Courtney Taylor died late Wednesday of multiple gunshot wounds.

Seattle police spokesman Mark Jamieson says medics couldn’t reach the wounded man for five to seven minutes as some men in the crowd challenged officers to fight. Taylor eventually was rushed to a Seattle hospital, where he later died.

UPDATE AT 10:25 A.M THURSDAY: Police now say the victim was 31 years old, not 20.

Seattle Times staff and Associated Press

Police say a hostile crowd delayed emergency responders from helping a man as he lay dying from multiple gunshot wounds Wednesday night in the parking lot of a South Seattle fast food restaurant.

The 20 31-year-old man was fatally shot at a Rainier Beach Jack in the Box, the second gun violence in the same block in a week.

The man was taken to Harborview Medical Center where he died in the emergency room, according to a nursing supervisor.

Officers, just down the street, arrived moments after receiving a 911 call reporting gunshots during a disturbance. A crowd of 25-50 people, gathered in the parking lot, was so hostile that emergency responders were delayed in reaching the victim, said SPD spokesman Mark Jamieson.

Jamieson says fire department medics couldn’t reach the man for 5 to 7 minutes. He says 15 officers were called in to quell the crowd.

Jamieson says people in the crowd were posturing, ripping off their shirts and challenging officers to fight.

“Officers were not able to get in to the victim right away,” he said. “Emotions were heated.”

The crowd quickly scattered. Detectives were able to interview a few witnesses, but police are requesting that anyone with information about the shooting call an SPD tipline at 206-233-5000.

Jamieson says there’s no known motive or suspect in the shooting.

Rainier Beach has seen a spate of recent violence. Last Saturday, a man was shot in the leg in the same block as Wednesday’s shooting, and in February, two men were killed a few blocks away. Two other shootings in January occurred nearby as well.

Officers gather and talk at the site of a shooting where two people were injured near the 9400 block of Rainier Ave. S. Tuesday night. (Photo by Ellen Banner / The Seattle Times)

SPD Deputy Chief Nick Metz addressing reporters at the scene, asks for help spreading word of a "huge increase" in shootings in Seattle. (Photo by Brian M. Rosenthal / The Seattle Times)

From Staff Reporter Brian M. Rosenthal:

Two men suffered life-threatening injuries tonight in a shooting in Rainier Beach.

The shooting occurred about 8 p.m. in the parking lot of Maya’s Mexican Restaurant, 9447 Rainier Ave. S. , said Mark Jamieson, a spokesman for the Seattle Police Department.

Police are not sure how many shooters were involved or if the incident was gang-related, Jamieson said. Detectives are investigating.

The two men were taken to Harborview Medical Center.  No detailed information on their conditions was available.

In an unusual move, Deputy Police Chief Nick Metz asked to speak to reporters after Jamieson’s briefing.

Metz said he wanted the media’s help in getting the word out about a “huge increase” in shootings since Jan. 1.

Mayor Mike McGinn addressed the spike in his State of the City address earlier today.

Like McGinn, Metz called the increase in shootings an “emergency,” but he said he didn’t know its cause.

“The reality is that this isn’t a game,” he said. “It isn’t a game. People are dying.”