Shootings, stabbing in Seattle and Lakewood: What we know

Violence flared across the Puget Sound region on the hottest day of the year so far, including in downtown Seattle, where two people were killed.

In the heart of the city, a shooting and a stabbing around 10 p.m. Wednesday left a teenager and a man dead. Earlier, at a Pierce County park, gunshots fired in a dispute between groups struck seven people, including five teens.

The Seattle attacks appeared unrelated, but they occurred within blocks of each other and came less than two weeks after a shooting that killed three people in Pioneer Square, threatening to raise perennial concerns about summer bloodshed.

The person killed in Wednesday night’s shooting was just 16, and the King County medical examiner’s office identified him Thursday as Kale Nusbaum. The office had yet to identify the man killed in the stabbing.

“We know the biggest predictor of violence is a preceding case of violence,” Seattle police Chief Shon Barnes said at the scene of the downtown shooting.

Homicide and shooting counts were down in Seattle through the first four months of 2025, compared with last year, but officials remain on guard.

Investigations continued Thursday in the Seattle and Pierce County shootings. Police arrested a suspect in the Seattle stabbing.

“We are doing proactive patrol. We’re trying to get as many of these weapons off the street as we can,” Barnes said. “We’re responding as quick as we can to emergencies, but it’s going to take the entire community working with the Seattle Police Department so we can have a safe summer.”

Teenager killed outside hotel

The Seattle shooting took place on Union Street near First Avenue, at the address of the Four Seasons Hotel.

Barnes said an altercation broke out among three males outside the hotel. One of them, a 16-year-old, took out a gun and shot the other two. Then a fourth person, who was not part of the fight and has a license to carry a concealed pistol, fired his weapon at the 16-year-old shooter, who died at Harborview Medical Center, Barnes said. The medical examiner’s office identified him as Nusbaum and determined he died from gunshot wounds.

The two others who were shot, a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old, were taken to Harborview with serious injuries, according to the Seattle Fire Department.

By Thursday morning, one had been discharged and the other was in satisfactory condition, hospital spokesperson Susan Gregg said.

The man who intervened cooperated with investigators and has not been arrested, Seattle police Detective Eric Muñoz said.

Stabbing death near Westlake Park

The Seattle stabbing happened near Fifth Avenue and Pike Street, in the vicinity of Westlake Park. There was a fight between two men at a car, Barnes said, when one stabbed the other. The injured man ran and collapsed in an alley. Fire Department crews provided aid, but he died.

Police found a knife. The man who police said stabbed the other was arrested at 6 a.m. Thursday, Muñoz said, and booked into King County Jail on suspicion of murder.

Dispute turns violent at Lakewood park

The Pierce County shooting erupted around 8 p.m. Wednesday when a dispute led to an exchange of gunfire at Harry Todd Park in Lakewood, on the shore of American Lake.

There were more than 100 people in the park at the time. A large crowd had gathered, likely due to the nice weather, the Lakewood Police Department said in a news release Thursday morning. Police described the scene as “hectic,” with people rushing to leave the park after hearing the gunshots.

“Unfortunately, there were unintended/uninvolved victims struck during this careless act of violence,” police spokesperson Sgt. Charles Porche said.

Ariana Garrity, who was at the park to meet friends and hang out by the lake, initially thought someone was setting off fireworks near the parking lot.

“Then I saw a bunch of people running down the hill towards the water and that’s when I realized it was gunfire,” said Garrity, 23. “There were a lot of kids around, a lot of families. Parents were shielding their children.”

Garrity hid near some bushes and texted loved ones, asking them to pray for her. The shots continued for minutes, with multiple bursts, she recalled.

She also heard sirens and at some point the shooting stopped.

The five teenagers shot ranged in age from 16 to 19 years old, Porche said. The other two shooting victims were a 38-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman.

“There is no threat to the public and this was not a targeted attack on park goers,” Lakewood police said in a Facebook post.

Medics took five people to hospitals, while two others went on their own. The 38-year-old man was in critical condition Thursday afternoon, Porche said. Two people were in serious condition and four in stable condition.

Police don’t know how many shooters were involved, Porche said.