Seattle Police Hunt for Gunman Who Shot 5 People in Cafe
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ABC News(SEATTLE) — A manhunt is underway for a gunman who killed three people and shot two others at a cafe today in Seattle’s University District.
The suspect opened fire at Cafe Racer Espresso around 11 a.m. PST, police said.
Two victims, both male, died at the scene. A third died at Harborview Medical Center.
No immediate details about the shooting victims were released.
Police scoured the surrounding area for the suspect, who fled north and was believed to be carrying a semi-automatic rifle.
“We are asking folks to be on guard and not to open their doors to anybody they don’t know,” Assistant Police Chief Nick Metz told ABC’s Seattle affiliate, KOMO-TV. “We’re focusing our search in the immediate area, probably a good 10 blocks out. We don’t have a good idea of where he may be.”
The suspect is described as a thin, white man between 30 and 40 years old. He is approximately 6-foot-1 and has curly light brown hair and a beard or goatee. Witnesses said he was wearing a white and brown plaid shirt and dark pants.
It was unclear what prompted the shooting.
Roosevelt High School, which is near the cafe, was put on lockdown while police armed with rifles continued to search the area.
Two other nearby schools, Greenwood Elementary School and Eckstein Middle School, were put on a modified lockdown, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.
No one answered the phone at Cafe Racer. A recorded message urged callers to “remember to come visit us, where we keep safety third.”
A second, unrelated shooting occurred 30 minutes later in the city. An unidentified woman was shot in the head in what police say could have been an attempted carjacking.
The second gunman is also on the loose. He is described as a 35-year-old white man with blonde hair.
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