3 Dead In Separate Shootings In Seattle, Burien, Federal Way

SEATTLE, WA - Three people were shot and killed over the course of about eight hours Tuesday night into Wednesday. The killings took place in Federal Way, Seattle, and Burien, and in each case, a lone man was shot and killed. Although it's too early to tell if the cases are related, police agencies are saying they will look into any possible connections.

The first shooting happened in Federal Way around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of Pacific Highway and Southwest Dash Point Road, just south of Des Moines. The 19-year-old victim, who was from Kent, was getting off a bus when he was shot by suspects driving by in a car, according to the Federal Way Mirror.

Hours later at approximately 12:07 a.m., a 35-year-old man was shot and killed along Rainier Avenue South in Seattle. Several patrol officers in the area heard gunshots in the vicinity of Rainier and South Rose Street. When they went to the area, they found a man dead in the parking lot of a business along the 8300 block of Rainier, police said.

The third killing happened right around the same time as the Seattle shooting. King County Sheriff's spokeswoman Sgt. Cindi West said that a man was standing outside an AM/PM store along Ambaum Boulevard in Burien around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday when he was shot. Witnesses saw two suspects flee the scene in a car.

In the Seattle homicide, the patrol officers who responded to the scene saw "several people" running away from the scene.

"Detectives are investigating to see if this shooting is gang related or connected to the Federal Way and Seattle homicides that occurred within hours of this shooting," West said in a release. However, West said that it's too early in the investigation to tell if there's a connection.

Seattle police were still at the crime scene early Wednesday morning and had cordoned off an alley that extends off of Wabash and abuts several apartment buildings in the area.

The 8400 block of Rainier Avenue was also the scene of Seattle's first murder in 2017. On Jan. 15, a man killed an acquaintance inside an apartment building, Seattle police reported at the time. The suspect was arrested in SeaTac on Jan. 16.

Want to get Seattle news alerts from Patch.com? Follow us on Facebook, or sign up for our email newsletter>>>

Image via Patch.com