Updated

Updated · USA TODAY · Jul 30

Seattle Police Link 4 Guns to Festival Shooting, Excluding Teen's Ghost Gun in 2 Deaths

Updated

Updated · USA TODAY · Jul 30

Seattle Police Link 4 Guns to Festival Shooting, Excluding Teen's Ghost Gun in 2 Deaths

Q: If the arrested teen’s ghost gun didn’t fire the fatal shots, who killed the two bystanders at Seattle’s food festival?

Police do not yet know who fired the shots that killed the two bystanders. What investigators do know is that preliminary ballistics tests indicate the fatal bullets did not come from the 15-year-old’s Polymer80 9 mm ghost gun, even though officers say they saw him firing into the crowd. Seattle police believe the gunfight involved at least three people: the arrested teen, 19-year-old Junior Cee Niko Semo, who was killed at the scene, and at least one still-unidentified suspect. Evidence from shell casings suggests as many as four weapons were fired. That means the fatal shots were likely fired by one of the other shooters, but police have not publicly determined whether they came from Semo, from the unidentified suspect or suspects, or from another unrecovered gun. Investigators recovered three firearms, but only two are believed to have been fired, and court filings say the scene evidence points to more weapons than police recovered. The case remains active. Detectives are still waiting on full state crime lab testing and are reviewing surveillance footage, cellphone videos, witness statements, and dozens of public tips. Until those results are complete, authorities have not named anyone as the person who killed Ashley Whitehead, 56, and Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44.

3 articles · Updated · USA TODAY · Jul 30

Court filings on July 29 said bullets recovered from the two bystanders killed at Seattle's Bite of Seattle festival do not appear to match the 15-year-old suspect's Polymer80 ghost gun.
Police said 13 shell casings found near the Space Needle point to four different handguns, including two casings consistent with the teen's weapon and other 9mm and .40-caliber clusters elsewhere in the scene.
The 15-year-old was charged with first-degree assault and unlawful gun possession after officers said they saw him firing into the vendor area and crowd, but prosecutors have not filed murder charges because the investigation is ongoing.
Investigators say the July 26 shooting was likely gang-related, killed Ashley Whitehead, Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba and 19-year-old Junior Cee Niko-Semo, wounded several others including a toddler, and left police seeking another suspect.