The city of Seattle has already suffered through multiple shootings recently and more fear was placed into the citizens when a man walked into a café close to a Seattle university and opened fire. The shooting fatally wounded four people. The suspect killed another woman during a carjacking attempt and then shot himself. After the suspect was tracked down by police he shot himself in the head, dying at a hospital.
The five victims of the shooting increased the total number of homicides in the city to 21 for 2012, which matches the total from all of 2011.
“Two tragic shootings today … have shaken this city,” Mayor Mike McGinn said. “It follows on the heels of multiple, tragic episodes of gun violence that have occurred throughout the city.”
Over the last month, the city suffered through two random killings. The first occurred in April when a woman died after being hit by a bullet in a drive-by shooting. The second occurred just last week when a man was killed by a stray bullet as he drove his vehicle. The suspect in the café shooting spree has not been identified by police but was identified as Ian Lee Stawicki, by the Seattle Times. Andrew Stawicki said he saw a photo of the suspect and recognized the person as his brother, who he said was mentally ill.
“It’s no surprise to me this happened,” Andrew Stawicki said. “We could see this coming. Nothing good is going to come with that much anger inside of you.”
The shooting occurred around 11 a.m. at the Café Racer, just north of the University of Washington. Two men passed away at the café and then a third man and a woman died at a hospital afterwards. The two who died at the hospital were shot inside the café. The gunman fled to First Hill, a neighborhood close to the downtown area of Seattle, shooting and killing a woman in a parking lot before stealing her SUV. The suspect drove the SUV to West Seattle, ditched the vehicle and left the gun in the car. According to Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel, a detective stopped the suspect, who then shot himself.
One person survived the shooting in the café, Leonard Meuse, whose condition was upgraded from critical to serious at Harborview Medical Center. Raymond Meuse, Leonard’s father, said his son was shot in the armpit and the jaw but is expected to survive. Evan Hill lives in the building above the café and said, “It’s the strangest place to think of a shooting.”