15-year-old arrested as Seattle festival shootout leaves three dead, including a suspect

A shootout that killed three at the Bite of Seattle food festival near the Space Needle may have been gang-related, with a 15-year-old now in custody, police say.

The deadly shootout at a crowded food festival near Seattle’s Space Needle is coming into clearer focus, with police now saying at least three shooters were involved and the violence may have been gang-related. According to the Associated Press, one of those shooters was among the three people killed.

The AP reported that a document filed in juvenile court identified the arrested suspect as a 15-year-old, who waived his initial court appearance Monday. Investigators believe the shooting involved the teen, a 19-year-old acquaintance who died at the scene, and at least one other unidentified suspect, revising an earlier account that pointed to only two.

Nicole Powell, the Seattle Police Department’s assistant chief of investigations, said the gunfire may have stemmed from two groups firing at one another. A judge ordered the 15-year-old held for investigation of firearms violations and first-degree assault.

The bloodshed erupted around 6 p.m. Sunday in the final hours of the Bite of Seattle, an annual three-day festival that draws hundreds of thousands to Seattle Center. As gunshots rang out, attendees scattered, many rushing into nearby buildings or fleeing the park entirely.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the three killed as Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44; Ashley Whitehead, 56; and Junior Cee Niko Semo, 19. As reported by the AP, Villalba was a husband and father of three, remembered for his kindness.

Whitehead had relocated to Washington from Alabama just a year earlier and was enjoying the festival with one of her adult daughters when she was struck, later dying in surgery. Her cousin Michelle Whitehead described her to the outlet as a “free spirit” with “the best gorgeous smile,” and stood among mourners at a Monday vigil holding a “Whitehead Strong” sign.

The four wounded, including a 2-year-old boy who had been with his mother, were all discharged from the hospital.

The AP also noted that officials faced criticism for confusing public statements, including Mayor Katie Wilson’s retracted claim that two people were in custody. Amid the chaos, a nearby resident, Moises Perez, sheltered more than a dozen fleeing people, mostly women and children, in his apartment, saying his own brother’s death to gun violence drove him to help.