Shooting at Bite of Seattle festival leaves several shot; police investigate
Authorities cordoned off the Seattle Center and asked people to avoid the area while the search for information about the attack continues.
A shooting that occurred this Sunday at the Seattle Center, where the traditional Bite of Seattle food festival was being held, left several people injured by firearms and caused a large deployment of police and emergency services in one of the busiest tourist spots in the city, a few meters from the emblematic Space Needle.
The Seattle Police Department (SPD) confirmed the incident through a statement posted on social media. "Police are investigating a shooting. There are multiple gunshot victims. Shots were reported at the Seattle Center. More information will be provided later. Please avoid the area," he reported.
The authorities have not specified the number of people injured, the severity of their injuries, whether there were deaths or whether there were suspects detained. The investigation remains ongoing.
The attack occurred as the last day of the Bite of Seattle, one of the oldest and most popular food festivals in the northwest of the United States, concluded. Although the shooting occurred at the Seattle Center complex, authorities said it is still unclear if the shooting was directly related to the event.
According to CNN, witnesses attending the festival reported hearing between seven and eight explosions before hundreds of people began running for cover. “People were running everywhere,” they said, as emergency teams entered the premises.
As a preventive measure, the Seattle Center Monorail, which connects the city center to the site where the Space Needle is located, suspended operations for the rest of Sunday and announced that it would resume service the next day.
The Bite of Seattle began in 1982 and has established itself as one of Washington's largest summer events. According to the organizers, each edition brings together around 350,000 attendees for three days of activities, with dozens of food stalls, drinks, musical shows and family activities, making the Seattle Center one of the busiest public spaces in the city during the festival.
The new episode once again places the focus on armed violence in public spaces in the United States. Although authorities have not yet determined the motive for the attack or confirmed whether it was a targeted or random act, police have cordoned off the area and asked anyone with information or video material to assist with the investigation.