SEATTLE — King County prosecutors have charged the 15-year-old arrested in connection with the deadly Bite of Seattle mass shooting with first-degree assault and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, according to charging documents filed Tuesday.
The documents allege the 15-year-old intentionally fired a handgun multiple times into a crowd at Seattle Center on July 26, while armed with a Polymer80 9mm handgun, commonly referred to as a “ghost gun.” Prosecutors also allege he illegally possessed the firearm because he was under the age of 18. The charges do not include homicide counts.
RELATED: Police recover ghost gun, seek potential 3rd suspect in Bite of Seattle mass shooting
According to a Seattle police probable cause certification included in the court filing, the shooting erupted shortly before 6 p.m. on the final day of the annual Bite of Seattle festival, which investigators estimated drew about 350,000 attendees over the weekend.
The three people who died were 19-year-old Junior Niko-Semo, 44-year-old Carlos Sanchez-Villalba, and 56-year-old Ashley Whitehead. Sanchez-Villalba and Whitehead were innocent bystanders attending the event; however, police later determined Niko-Semo was also involved in the shooting.
Four other people were wounded, including a 2-year-old child, but all have since been released from the hospital.
A witness told investigators they heard the initial gunfire from an unidentified “Black male wearing a light blue top” before seeing the 15-year-old remove a handgun with an extended magazine from a bag strapped across his chest and fire multiple shots southbound toward the other person.
The witness said they saw Niko-Semo hit by the initial burst of gunfire from the unidentified man and that Niko-Semo crumpled to the ground. The court documents do not indicate if Niko-Semo was in possession of or holding a gun.
The witness described the 15-year-old’s shooting as uncontrolled and said it sounded like automatic gunfire. Police said the witness later identified the 15-year-old as the person officers arrested at the scene Sunday evening.
The unidentified third man fled the scene, and police have not provided any details on this individual.
Police apprehended the 15-year-old within minutes of the shooting. The documents report that as he was being led away by officers, he said “Love you, bro” to Niko-Semo as he lay on the ground.
Images provided in the documents appear to match up with witness video obtained by KOMO News shows that show a person who appears to be the 15-year-old being arrested, which can be viewed below:
Officers recovered a Polymer80 9mm ghost gun with an extended magazine from inside the teenager’s coat, according to court documents. The handgun had a rear vanity plate that read, “1 SHOT 1 KILL,” court documents say.
Investigators said they recovered three guns from the scene, but court documents reveal that casings from multiple firearms indicate at least four guns may have been fired during the mass shooting.
Court documents state, “Investigators located 13 fired shell casings at the scene. Based on a preliminary review of those casings, investigators believe four handguns are represented.
- A cluster of four .40 caliber shell casings located in the walkway near the T-Mobile vendor area.
- A single 9mm shell casing, labeled with evidence placard 8, west of the T-Mobile vendor area. From a preliminary review, it appears this 9mm shell casing is consistent with [the 15-year-old’s] Polymer80 handgun. In addition, another shell casing has been turned in by a vendor that appears to be consistent also with [his] Polymer80 handgun
- A cluster of five 9mm shell casings on the south side of the walkway along a fence and to the east of where victims were standing.
- A cluster of three 9mm shell casings to the south of where [the 15-year-old] was taken into custody.
The court documents also reveal neither of the two bystander victims were killed by bullets from the 15-year-old’s Polymer80, according to autopsies performed by the medical examiner. The documents do not specify which projectiles resulted in their deaths.
“Investigators submitted a number of projectiles recovered from the autopsy from victim Villalba and victim Whitehead to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab for analysis. The preliminary results appear to exclude the Polymer80 handgun as the firearm involved in those deaths,” court documents state.
Investigators said the evidence gathered so far nonetheless supports probable cause for the 15-year-old’s assault charge because officers and a witness reported seeing the teen fire multiple rounds into a crowded area, conduct prosecutors allege was likely to cause great bodily harm or death.
Police continue to ask for the public’s help in identifying and locating the third individual involved in the deadly shooting. There was also reportedly an eighth shooting victim who self-transported to UW Medicine and was released, and police have asked that victim to come forward.
The Seattle Police Department did not hold a news conference Wednesday, the first day they decided not to do so since the mass shooting took place.
Police opened an online portal Wednesday for people to share evidence, using this link.
