Three people are dead, a second suspect is still at large, and investigators have no camera footage of the shooting at the Bite of Seattle on July 26.
The gunfire erupted around 6 p.m. outside the Seattle Center Armory's northwest corner, killing two men ages 19 and 44 at the scene and a 56-year-old woman at a hospital.
Four others were wounded, including a 2-year-old boy. All four remained hospitalized in stable condition as of the morning of Monday, July 27.
Acting SPD Chief Tyrone Davis, a 25-year department veteran leading the response while Chief Shon Barnes was out of town, confirmed at a Sunday night press conference that no cameras captured the shooting. Investigators are relying on witnesses.
"There may be more," Davis said of potential suspects. "We're still trying to figure this out. We have a limited amount of witnesses, so one of the things that really could help us out is if people would call our hotline."
No cameras, no footage
SPD's Real-Time Crime Center operates 62 CCTV cameras in three zones: downtown, Aurora Avenue, and the Chinatown International District. None cover the 74-acre Seattle Center campus.
Mayor Katie Wilson disputed Davis's characterization at the same press conference, saying her understanding was that Seattle Center has its own cameras and that the city was working to determine whether any captured relevant footage.
No confirmation of usable footage had been released as of the morning of July 27.
The absence of CCTV cameras at Seattle Center predates Wilson's March 2026 decision to pause the broader expansion program pending a privacy audit by NYU's Policing Project.
The paused expansion targeted Capitol Hill, the Central District, and the Stadium District. Seattle Center was not in the expansion plan.
But the broader policy fight is now unavoidable. District 7 Councilmember Bob Kettle sent a letter to Wilson on Tuesday, June 2, calling her camera pause "inconsistent with the City ordinances that created the program" and warning it posed "an unwarranted and reckless risk to public safety."
He demanded cameras be activated before the FIFA World Cup. Wilson turned on Stadium District cameras for the tournament in June, then shut them off on July 7, after the last Seattle match. The broader expansion remains frozen until the audit concludes in fall 2026.
Since its April 2025 launch, the Real-Time Crime Center has helped solve at least 561 violent crime cases citywide through February 2026, according to the Seattle City Council.
Multi-agency investigation
The FBI, ATF, King County Gun Violence Reduction Unit, SPD's CSI unit, and Washington State Patrol are all involved. Gov. Bob Ferguson's office confirmed the WSP SWAT team was dispatched at SPD's request.
Two guns were recovered from the scene. Witnesses described the gunfire as sounding like a "machine gun." SPD has not confirmed what type of weapons or modifications were used.
Davis said police believe the two shooters were firing at each other in a targeted dispute and that the outstanding suspect does not pose an ongoing public threat. He described the suspect as "a young person." Police had no physical description as of the morning of July 27.
The scene
Dozens of SPD officers were already on the Seattle Center grounds providing event security. Some saw one of the suspects firing. One suspect surrendered at the scene; the other fled.
Festival attendee Estan Wakonabo, 25, told The Seattle Times on Sunday, July 26, that he was shoved from behind by a rush of fleeing people while waiting in line for a photo booth. "People were hiding, were pushing, people were falling on the ground, baby strollers were falling," Wakonabo said.
Harborview Medical Center was placed on partial lockdown for several hours Sunday night as a precaution due to uncertainty about the number of shooters.
The city has not announced a next public briefing. The NYU privacy audit of the camera program is expected to conclude in fall 2026. Anyone with information can call SPD's tip line at 206-233-5000.
