A string of shootings in Seattle has left communities reeling from the shock of rampant gun violence in the city. On Monday, July 28, a man was fatally shot at the Northgate Transit Station in Seattle. Then, on Thursday, July 31, a drive-by shooting in the Greek Row of the University District left another man dead. Most recently, two seemingly separate shootings in the SODO neighborhood claimed two more lives.
On Monday, July 28, Edward Kimani shot his classmate, Juwan Williams, at the Northgate Transit Station. Both men attended the Pima Medical Institute, but the motive for the murder remains unclear at this time. Kimani was charged with first-degree murder with a firearm enhancement on Aug. 4. Surveillance footage from the transit station shows Williams walking off the escalator at around 8 a.m., after which a masked and gloved man shot him in the back of the head before running away from the scene. Even though Williams received prompt medical attention, he succumbed to his injuries the following day.
On Thursday, July 31, Christopher LeBron Castleberry, also known as LeBraun Givaun, was shot and killed by an unknown man in a hoodie. Video footage showed the suspect pulling up to the scene in a white Hyundai Elantra with all-black wheels. The suspect then proceeded to shoot multiple times at Castleberry in front of his wife, child and other witnesses. The Seattle Police Department found the vehicle used in the drive-by engulfed in flames 6 hours later near Woodland Park Zoo in Phinney Ridge. The shooting occurred at Pursuit NW’s U-District campus during a weekly church BBQ. The pastor and founder, Russell Johnson, released a statement on Instagram expressing his grief and anger towards the brutal murder of one of their members.
Two separate incidents occurred in SODO on Sunday, Aug. 3, which left two people dead and one child wounded. Around 4:10 a.m., a man with a gunshot wound to the chest and a child shot in the leg were discovered by the SPD near First Avenue South and South Dakota Street. Both victims were taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment, but the man died from his injuries. SPD Chief Shon Barnes said in a statement that the shooting was connected to an “unauthorized and unregulated gathering.” Then, at 6:05 a.m., another man was killed about one and a half miles north, in a parking lot on 4th Avenue and South and South Massachusetts Street, near the I-5 on ramp. The man, who died on the scene, had several gunshot wounds, and SPD found a crash-damaged sports car alongside him.
