Three Dead, Four Wounded in Mass Shooting at Bite of Seattle Festival

Three people were killed and four others wounded Sunday evening when gunfire broke out at the Bite of Seattle food festival on the Seattle Center campus, roughly two hours before the three-day event was scheduled to close for the year.

Seattle police were called to the 200 block of Thomas Street just after 6 p.m. Two people died at the scene. A third, a 56-year-old woman, died after she was taken to Harborview Medical Center. Among the wounded was a 2-year-old boy.

One person, described by police only as a young person, was arrested at the scene. Officers recovered two firearms and said they believe two individuals were shooting at each other rather than firing into the crowd. A second shooter was still being sought early Monday.

The shooting happened on the final day of a festival that charges no admission and that drew more than 355,000 people across three days in 2024, according to Seattle Center. Police cleared a campus that, at that hour on a summer Sunday, was full of families with small children.

Gunfire Just After 6 p.m. on the 200 Block of Thomas Street

Officers reached the 200 block of Thomas Street, inside the Seattle Center grounds near the Armory and within sight of the Space Needle, just after 6 p.m., according to KUOW. The festival was still running. Its posted hours were 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Assistant Chief Tyrone Davis said officers on the campus reached the gunfire quickly. They "confronted the shooter and prevented more people from getting hurt," he told KIRO 7. One person was taken into custody at the scene.

Witnesses described a crowd that did not immediately understand what it was hearing. Paul Skinner, 47, told The Spokesman-Review that he "just heard what sounded like what were some pretty loud fireworks at first." Estan Wakonabo, 25, told the same outlet the scene became "just pure chaos."

Attendees ran for the perimeter. A festival employee identified as Isaiah told MyNorthwest that he began lifting children over a fence to get them clear: "I just started grabbing kids. I was just tossing kids over left and right." Another witness told the outlet there were "bodies on the ground" and that a bystander was performing CPR.

Washington State Patrol SWAT units were sent to assist Seattle police, Gov. Bob Ferguson confirmed. Harborview Medical Center went into a partial lockdown as it received patients, The Spokesman-Review reported. Seattle police gave their first substantive briefing shortly before 11 p.m., about five hours after the first calls.

Why the Toll Moved From Two Dead to Three Overnight

Anyone who followed this story across Sunday night saw the numbers change, and the reason is worth stating plainly rather than leaving readers to assume someone got it wrong.

Early reporting put the toll at two dead and five wounded. That was accurate at the time. Two people died at the scene, and five more were shot and survived the initial response. Later Sunday night the count became three dead and four wounded. Those are not competing versions of the same event. They are the same seven people, counted before and after a 56-year-old woman who had been listed in critical condition and taken into surgery died at Harborview.

The total number of people struck by gunfire never changed. Seven were shot. Only the split between dead and wounded moved, and it moved once, in one direction.

A second correction came from the mayor's office rather than from the passage of time. Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson initially said two people were in custody, then revised that to one. Police have consistently described a single arrest at the scene and an active search for at least one more person.

One smaller discrepancy has not resolved. Accounts differ on the fifth person struck, a 40-year-old woman with minor injuries: The Spokesman-Review and KOMO News reported she declined transport, while MyNorthwest reported she was taken to UW Medical Center. Outlets have also given Davis two different titles, assistant chief and acting chief. Neither point changes the substance of what happened, but readers comparing coverage will notice both.

A 2-Year-Old at Harborview and a 56-Year-Old Who Did Not Survive

Police and hospital officials released ages but not names. The three who died include the 56-year-old woman who was taken to Harborview and two people pronounced dead at Seattle Center.

Four survivors were accounted for by early Monday. A 2-year-old boy, a 23-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman were all listed in stable condition at Harborview, MyNorthwest reported. The fourth, the 40-year-old woman, had minor injuries. Gunshot wounds among the survivors were to an arm, a leg, a lower leg and an abdomen.

The wounding of a toddler drew the sharpest official reaction. Ferguson said he could not imagine being the parent of a 2-year-old injured in a shooting like this one. Wilson called the shooting "an act of horrific violence" and said the city "will establish what happened and be transparent with the public." U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal said she was "absolutely horrified by the shooting that took place this evening at Seattle Center."

The age spread of the seven people shot is itself a fact about the setting. A 2-year-old, a 23-year-old, a 39-year-old, a 40-year-old and a 56-year-old were all hit within the same small area. That range is what a free family festival at 6 p.m. on a Sunday looks like, and it is consistent with the police account that the gunfire was not aimed at the crowd. People were struck because of where they were standing when two other people started shooting.

One Young Suspect in Custody, Two Guns Recovered, One Shooter Still Sought

Detectives recovered two guns at the scene, which is the physical basis for the police theory that two people were exchanging fire. The person arrested was described only as a young person and was being interviewed by Seattle police. At least one more person was still being sought early Monday.

Davis was direct that the picture was not complete. "There may be more. We're still trying to figure this out," he told MyNorthwest.

Two of the department's public statements sit in tension, and it is fair to name that. Police said they do not believe there is an ongoing threat to the public while also saying a shooter has not been found. Both can hold if investigators are confident this was a dispute between specific individuals rather than an attack on festivalgoers, because in that reading the outstanding suspect has no reason to return to a crowd. It is a judgment about motive, not a statement that everyone involved is accounted for.

The investigation has a concrete gap. MyNorthwest reported there were no surveillance cameras covering the immediate area where the shooting happened, though Seattle Center has cameras elsewhere on the campus. That places unusual weight on witness accounts and on phone video shot by attendees, which explains the tone of the police appeal.

"We need people to be brave. We need information. We need help to solve this crime," Davis said, per KUOW. Seattle police asked anyone with information or video to call the Violent Crimes Tip Line at 206-233-5000, which accepts anonymous calls.

What Changed at the Bite of Seattle Before This Weekend

The Bite of Seattle is not a small event and it is not a ticketed one. Seattle Center lists the 2026 edition as running July 24 through 26 with more than 300 food and retail vendors and free admission. MyNorthwest reported organizers expected more than 350,000 people across the weekend. The event has been on the Seattle Center campus for decades and changed hands in 2023, when FoodieLand took over its operation; the first year under that management drew more than 355,000 attendees over three days, according to Seattle Center.

Davis said the festival had not been a problem before. "The Bite of Seattle is a very positive event," he said, adding that police "haven't had any issues in recent years."

That record matters for what comes next, because free admission and screening are linked. A ticketed venue on the same campus, such as an arena show, funnels every attendee through a controlled gate. An open-campus festival with no admission charge and hundreds of thousands of visitors moving across a public site over three days works differently by design. That is the trade the format makes, and it is the trade that made this event reachable for families who would not buy tickets to anything.

Nothing in the police account so far suggests a screening failure aimed at the crowd. Investigators have described a shooting between two people who happened to be inside a very large one. Those are different problems with different answers, and conflating them is the fastest way to arrive at a response that does not fit what happened.

The Monorail Reopens Monday Morning, the Pacific Science Center Does Not

The campus did not return to normal overnight. The Seattle Center Monorail shut down Sunday and was set to resume service at 7:30 a.m. Monday, KIRO 7 reported. The Pacific Science Center closed for Monday entirely, canceling all shows and offering refunds.

Those two decisions read differently. The Monorail is transit, and restoring it early Monday keeps a working link between downtown and Lower Queen Anne intact for commuters who have nothing to do with the festival. Closing the Pacific Science Center for a full day is a choice about a building that sits close to where people were killed and whose visitors on a Monday in late July are largely children.

For the wider region, the practical effect is narrower than the headlines suggest. Seattle Center is a destination campus that draws from across Puget Sound, and the Bite of Seattle had already reached its final scheduled day when the shooting occurred, so there was no remaining festival schedule to cancel.

What is unresolved is the investigation. Police have one person in custody, two recovered firearms, at least one outstanding suspect, no stated motive and no camera coverage of the shooting itself. Charging decisions have not been announced, and the three people who died had not been publicly identified as of early Monday. Seattle police asked anyone who was at Seattle Center Sunday evening, particularly anyone who recorded video, to contact the tip line at 206-233-5000.