Seattle shooting charges: Bullets that killed 2 not from 15-year-old’s ghost gun

Ballistic evidence shows that four handguns were involved in the gunfight at Seattle Center on Sunday, but testing on bullets removed from two bystanders during their autopsies appears to exclude the Polymer80 9-mm ghost gun found in the possession of a 15-year-old boy, the only suspected shooter arrested at the scene, according to King County prosecutors.

Following his Sunday arrest, Seattle police officers reportedly heard the 15-year-old say, “Love you, bro,” as he walked past the body of 19-year-old Junior Niko-Semo, one of three people killed in Sunday’s early evening violence on the last day of the annual Bite of Seattle food festival.

Though the investigation is ongoing, charges filed Wednesday against the 15-year-old offer a few more details about the gunfight that injured at least four other people. While Seattle police have said they believe the shootout was gang-related, the charges don’t mention anyone’s suspected gang affiliations.  

The 15-year-old was charged Wednesday with first-degree assault and remains in juvenile detention at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center on 12th Avenue. Also charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, the boy was initially scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, but that hearing was canceled after prosecutors filed a motion aimed at having his case moved from juvenile to adult court.

The boy’s arraignment will be held after a hearing is held to determine if he should be tried as an adult, a process that can take months.

The first-degree assault charge, which includes a firearm enhancement, alleges the boy was illegally armed and fired into the crowd, all but assuring he will remain in secure detention. As of Wednesday, police had not referred a case to prosecutors seeking murder charges against anyone.

Prosecutors can amend the charges or file charges against additional suspects at any time, provided they believe allegations can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Key questions remain, including who fired the bullets that injured and killed people.

Seattle police Chief Shon Barnes said at a Tuesday news conference that police had recovered three firearms — the Polymer80 ghost gun, a Springfield Armory compact 9-mm that is not believed to have been fired, and a Glock 45 9-mm handgun equipped with an extended magazine and illegal “switch” that enabled it to fire automatically.

Three different clusters of 9-mm shell casings, a single 9-mm casing and a cluster of .40 caliber casings were found around the intersecting pedestrian walkways just west of the Seattle Center Armory, according to charging papers. Police did not find a .40-caliber gun at the scene.

A group of Seattle police officers was standing near the northwest corner of the Armory building when they heard “a volley of gunshots” around 6 p.m. Sunday. The sound came from the west along the paved walkway that runs through the middle of Seattle Center, the charges say.

Scene of the Seattle Center shooting
Charging papers filed against a 15-year-old allegedly involved in the Seattle Center shooting include the locations of where police found the victims killed or injured in the gunfight.

Sources: Esri, King County prosecutor’s office (Map by Shaun Martin / The Seattle Times)

At least one officer saw the 15-year-old fire into the crowd, and the teen was immediately taken into custody as he tried to leave the scene to the north; the ghost gun was found inside his coat, according to the charges. The “privately manufactured” gun without a serial number was fitted with an extended magazine and a rear vanity plate that read, “1 SHOT 1 KILL,” charging papers say.

Just west of where the officers were standing when the shooting began, police found 44-year-old Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, who was shot in the chest and died at the scene, the charges say. Nearby, they found Ashley Whitehead, 56, who was shot in the pelvis and later died at Harborview Medical Center.

Three other shooting victims, including a child, were found at the scene while a fourth got himself to the hospital, the charges say. It appears from the charges that all those victims were on the south side of the walkway, near a Vietnamese coffee and tea booth, with the crime scene spread across about 50 feet of walkway from east to west.

A witness later told police that a male dressed in a light blue shirt was the first to fire a series of shots before he ran south along the west side of the Armory building, the charges say. At the same time, the witness saw a male in a white shirt, jeans and black jacket to his north, who then pulled out a gun with an extended magazine and began firing at the other suspect.

The second person was firing “in an uncontrolled manner,” and the witness heard what he thought was automatic gunfire, charging papers say.

The witness, who video-recorded the police response, also told investigators he thought Niko-Semo was struck by the first volley of shots and saw him fall to the ground, according to charging papers.

Another video didn’t capture images of the shooting but had audio. “It appears there are four gunshots, then what sounds like automatic gunfire, and then lastly two gunshots,” the charges say.

Police are still searching for at least one other shooter.

On Wednesday night, for a second time in three days, dozens of people streamed into Seattle Center for a vigil.

Alexis Woodward, 29, from the Midwest, lingered after visiting the Space Needle. She was in town for a Microsoft conference and wanted to “send love to your community.”

People posted notes on wooden signboards arranged around the International Fountain, with flowers on the ground beneath them. An officer with Seattle Emergency Services set down a single orange flower.

One note read: “Amend the 2nd Amendment!”

“So, so sad. What more can be said?” read another. “I’m sorry.”

Seattle Times staff reporter Joseph O’Sullivan contributed to this story.