Last Updated on 04/09/2024 by Arun jain
A suspect was taken into custody early Tuesday morning in connection with multiple freeway shootings in the Seattle area that injured four and targeted up to seven vehicles Monday night, officials said.
Washington State Patrol officials said two people were hospitalized in critical condition, and two others — including one with a graze wound and another with leg injuries — were treated at medical facilities and released.
Another victim who sustained concussions from broken glass did not require treatment, the agency said in a press release.
A passenger is in critical condition among two victims who were struck multiple times in the first overnight shooting on Interstate 5 south of Seattle just before 8:30 p.m. Monday, the State Patrol said.
Another was shot in the neck in the attack, which was reported just after 11 p.m. on the interstate in Pierce County, also south of Seattle, it said.
After news of the attack spread, an additional victim came forward with a report of a shooting that left no one injured as they were traveling on their way to Portland, Oregon, on Federal Way, a street that crosses Interstate 5 south of Seattle, Washington. , the State Patrol said.
According to a statement from the Washington State Patrol, the three shootings happened around 8:30 p.m. or later, followed by another round of at least three attacks around 11 p.m.
All were reported on Interstate 5, the State Patrol said, except for a seventh possible attack that has not yet been confirmed as part of the spree, it said.
Authorities said it’s possible there are more victims who didn’t realize their vehicle had been struck Monday night. Washington State Patrol spokesman Krist Loftis said at a news conference that the agency hopes those who may have been targeted, as well as witnesses to the shooting, will come forward.
The freeway runs from the US-Mexico border to the US-Canada border and is an important route to the largest cities on the US West Coast.
Four victims or accomplices said the attacker was in a white Volvo or another white vehicle, the State Patrol said in a statement. That information helped troopers find a suspect, who was taken into custody after a short chase in a Tacoma-area community 35 miles south of Seattle, Washington, the agency said.
The suspect was booked into the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle on suspicion of first-degree assault, state patrol Capt. Ron Mead said at a news conference Tuesday.
Mead said the agency would not release the suspect’s name in an effort to avoid publicizing the individual. Officials said the motive was unknown.
The captain lamented how common freeway shootings have become. King County, which covers Seattle, has had 37 confirmed cases so far this year, Loftis said.
“These were just innocent people trying to get from point A to point B,” Mead said of Monday’s victims. “People shouldn’t be afraid to drive on the interstate.”
Post Suspect in custody after series of freeway shootings that injured Seattle-area commuters appeared first NBC News.