Two shot outside 99-Cent Etc. store

Medics and officers respond to the scene of a shooting outside the 99-Cent Etc. Store.

Two people were shot Thursday afternoon in the parking lot of the 99-Cent Etc. store near the intersection of 30th Avenue NE and NE 127th Street. One of the men was a bystander hit in the back by an errant bullet during an argument.

The Seattle P-I reported that the suspect in the shooting later turned himself in to police in Lake Forest Park about 6 p.m.

The shooting was first reported to 9-1-1 dispatchers about 3:49 p.m., as people were gathered nearby at the Lake City Farmers Market.

Police said there was a dispute between one of the men shot and two others in a nearby car. One man in the car fired multiple rounds, hitting the man he argued with in the leg. Another round hit a bystander in the buttocks.

A round also shattered the window of a residence at the Cedar Park Apartments and another was found next to a car in front of Grocery Outlet.

Most at the nearby neighborhood farmers market were unaware that there was a shooting about a block away. The sound of news helicopters hovering overhead drowned out a music performance but most went about their business.

One neighborhood resident said she was walking toward Grocery Outlet when an agitated man rushed toward her yelling about shooting someone in the butt. The man, known around the neighborhood as "Marine Dave," later returned to the scene and was treated by medics. He was rushed, along with the other victim, to Harborview Medical Center. Both are expected to survive.

Later in the evening a group publicly drinking in front of the Lake City Post Office said they know "Marine Dave" and that he was an innocent bystander. The group drinking in the parking lot also told the Seattle Times that the disagreement between the other victim and the shooter was over something "stupid" and should have been settled with fists.

"People have gotten lazy," the witness told the Times. "They want to just fire a gun when they should fight."

The people would not elaborate further on what the argument was over.

Witnesses at the scene said they heard six shots fired during the chaos.

Comments on news websites had lots to say about the direction Lake City seems to be headed and the number of people that gather in the area publicly drinking and panhandling. One reader from Lake Forest Park said, "Much of Lake City appears to have become a north end ghetto."

Hours after the shooting Douglas Park Cooperative held one of their twice-weekly neighborhood walks and had the largest turnout since the walks started more than six months ago.

Neighbors, many frustrated with the direction they see the neighborhood going, talked about problems in the neighborhood and discussed ways to combat what some see as the deterioration of their neighborhood.




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