I WAS AT THE FUCKING RAVE!

Seven people dead in Capitol Hill shooting

Seattle Police cordon off the area of the multiple shooting in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. At around 7 a.m. a man walked into a blue rental home in the 2100 block of East Republican Street and opened fire, killing six people

At least seven people were killed in a shooting this morning at a home in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Police said one of the dead was the gunman.

At around 7 a.m. a man walked into a blue rental home in the 2100 block of East Republican Street and opened fire, killing six people. More than a dozen people who attended the party were relaxing inside after a late night party when the shooting happened, said Seattle police spokesman Rich Pruitt.

When officers confronted the gunman he "turned the weapon on himself," Pruitt said.

The man shot himself in the head with a shotgun. He was also armed with several handguns, Pruitt said.

Three people injured in the shooting were taken to Harborview Medical Center, Pruitt said. The uninjured partygoers were loaded into buses by police and taken to a "warm, secure spot," Pruitt said.

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Investigators believe the gunman knew his victims. He had been at the party earlier in the night.

"We don't know the relationship," Pruitt said, adding that most victims appeared to be to be in their late teens and early 20s. "But he [the gunman] had been here, left then returned."

Pruitt said investigators are talking to nearly 20 witnesses.

"Some from the house, some from surrounding areas," Pruitt said.

Nancie Thorne, whose 15-year-old daughter, Suzanne, was in the house at the time of the shooting got a call from her Jesse Mullens, Suzanne's 18-year-old boyfriend, this morning.

"It's the worse phone call a mom can get," Thorne, said, adding that she went to the home after getting the call.

She said she doesn't know where Suzanne currently is.

The girl, Mullens and another friend had gone to what Thorne called a "zombie rave" in downtown Seattle last night.

It appeared to be a sanctioned event, she said. They purchased tickets. Her daughter told her she thought it was at Studio Seven, an all-ages rock club in Seattle's Sodo district.

In his phone call, Mullens told Thorne that after the rave, they went to a house on Capitol Hill for an after-party. As the couple and their friend were preparing to leave, he told Thorne, the gunman arrived and barged into the house. Suzanne had gone back inside, possibly to get something.

Mullens told Thorne he heard a lot of gunshots. He thought Suzanne was stuck somewhere in the house with the shooter between her and the door.

"She shouldn't have gone to the rave. I've never approved of those things," Thorne said. "The young kids just don't get it. I just hope to God she's alive," she said crying. "And if she is, she's grounded for life."

Thorne said Mullen was taken by police with a large group of people to a police precinct and she has not been able to reach him again.

Aaron Hoyle, 25, of Renton, said the home had been rented by five of his friends, who all shared a love of electronic music. He said the occupants frequently hosted parties, but he was not present this morning when the shooting took place.

Charles Jackson, who lives two doors down from the home, said he was "just getting out of bed and I heard 'boom, boom.' "

"By the time I got out, there was one more shot fired," said Jackson, 67.

Jackson put on his clothes and saw a man lying on a sidewalk who appeared to have been shot.

Jackson, who has lived in the neighborhood 40 years, describes the area as relatively quiet.

He said he's seen young people with facial piercings and heavy makeup walking around recently. He believes they're connected to the rental home.

William Lowe, who lives across the street from where the shootings occurred, called 911 when he heard four shotgun blasts and two shots from a small caliber handgun just after 7 a.m. He said he saw an injured man stumble outside the home.

"The first person I saw was obviously wounded, and he looked disoriented," said Lowe, 59.

When an officer arrived moments later, the gunman, clad from head to toe in black, exited the house through a side door carrying what looked like a sawed-off shotgun, Lowe said.

"The officer yelled 'drop your' and the guy put the gun to his mouth and pulled the trigger," Lowe said.

Lowe said the gunman looked familiar and believes he may have visited the house before. He said that since people moved into the home nearly six months ago it was a regular party destination for youth.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels spent a portion of the morning surveying the neighborhood.

"Our thoughts are with the people at Harborview and with the victims of this senseless violence," Nickels said. "It's a terrible tragedy, we don't have incidents like this in this city very often."

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Interviewed for hours, witnesses sought food, sleep

About 30 young people who were inside the house when the gunman opened fire were put on a bus and taken to the Seattle Police Department's headquarters on Fifth Avenue for interviews.

Afterward, a small group of them stood outside smoking following questioning by detectives. Most declined to comment, saying they needed food and sleep before they could begin making sense of the tragedy. A couple of them wore paper jumpsuits because they didn't have time to dress before hurrying out of the house. One man had blood smeared along his neck and another had blood on the legs of his jeans.

"Welcome to the Columbine of Seattle," said one young woman who declined to give her name but said her boyfriend who had been shot. "He's on the operating table now," she said. Minutes later, the woman could be heard screaming and crying from inside the front lobby.

— by Sarah Jean Green

'Colorful kids,' neighbor says

Neighbors say the house was one of the only rental houses in an area where homes sell in the half-million dollar range. Some people have lived there as long as 60 years. But the house on Republican stuck out in other ways, too.

Numerous neighbors said a group of 20-somethings — they're not sure how many — moved in about six months ago. They were "colorful kids," said Bonnie Morrison, who lives about a block away, describing them as pierced and tattooed, with distinctive clothing. William Lowe, another neighbor, recalls that a number of tenants or visitors had painted their faces one day, including one who painted an elaborate sunburst around his eye.

What stuck out most was the parties, which were regular events, lasting well into the morning. Most of the time, the parties weren't loud, music-blaring bashes, but they were loud enough that most everyone in the area noticed.

"They weren't good neighbors but they weren't bad neighbors, Lowe said.

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The scene wasn't such a nuisance, however, that police saw the house as a trouble spot, Seattle Police Department spokeswoman Deanna Nolette said. Indeed, neighbors say their biggest concern about the area was speeding drivers, a topic they discussed regularly at neighborhood meetings.

— by Maureen O'Hagan

'I got shot. I got shot,' victim tells neighbors

Cesar Clemente Jr., who lives across the street from the scene of the shooting, was preparing for his morning bike ride when the shots rang out. He came downstairs where his son had just ushered a young man into their home.

"I saw his body laying there inside the house," Clemente, 51, said. "He said, 'I got shot. I got shot.'"

Clemente called 9-1-1.

The victim was slumped across the threshold of the red two-story house on Republican where the Clementes have lived for 26 years. He wore a black T-shirt, a pacifier around his neck and what Clemente described as "sci-fi gloves," referring to the light-tipped gloves some ravers wear.

The victim held his right side. A shotgun pellet fell from his wound, Clemente said.

He asked Clemente Jr. to take the gloves off. "I got shot," the victim repeated. "It hurts."

Minutes later paramedics took away the victim. His black T-shirt and blood were left on Clemente's doorstep.

— By Benjamin J. Romano

Couple escapes by locking bathroom door

Two survivors of this morning's shooting on Capitol Hill locked themselves in a bathroom and narrowly escaped the deadly barrage.

One of the pair, Garry Will, a 20-year-old Bellevue man, talked about the shooting after he had been taken downtown and interviewed by detectives. He was among a group of 30 questioned by police.

Standing outside police headquarters on Fifth Avenue, Will said he and his 17-year-old girlfriend had attended a rave, called "Better Off Undead," at an art space on 12th Avenue last night.

In addition to DJs and dancing, the man said he met people who invited him to an after-party at the Capitol Hill rental house.

"It was pretty chill," Will said about the party.

Just before the shooting began, the man said his girlfriend called him to an upstairs bathroom to chat as she applied some makeup. Nearly everyone in the home had been there for several hours, he said.

"We heard gunshots and screaming and I opened the bathroom door and looked down the stairs and saw flashes from the gunshots. It was pretty intense," he said.

He locked the bathroom door and he and his girlfriend crouched in the bathtub.

"After all the gunshots, [the shooter] came upstairs and tried to open the [bathroom] door. He shot a round through the door and the bullet whizzed by my face," the man said. The gunman then went back downstairs, he said.

"We thought we were going to die, plain and simple," Will said.

— By Sara Jean Green
Director says rave was easy, friendly

Matthew Kwatinetz, artistic director for Capitol Hill Arts Center, said a group called Funshine Productions came to him last week and asked to rent his venue for the rave after another venue fell through. Friday night, about 200 to 300 people were at the event at any one time, he said. The space is licensed to hold 471.

A crew of 15 security guards searched people for weapons and drugs before entering the center, Kwatinetz said.

"It was very mellow, easy, and friendly. There were no problems, not even a raised voice. It was one of the funnest events I've been to."

Kwatinetz said the arts center has hosted 1,500 events over the past year. The party ended at 4 a.m., he said, and everyone was gone by 4:15. He said he stayed until 5.30 to clean up.

— By Seattle Times staff
Police chief, mayor win anti-gun honors

One day before the Saturday morning shooting, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske was honored by Washington CeaseFire, a gun-safety, advocacy organization for efforts to end gun violence in Washington state.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels also was thanked by the group for his work.

Kerlikowske was given the Delores Jones Person of the Year award for his work to toughen gun safety laws, according to CeaseFire.

"It is a sad irony, that in less than 24 hours after receiving an award for his work to end gun violence, Chief Kerlikowske is on the scene of one of Seattle's deadliest shootings ever," said Ralph Fasceteli, president of Washington CeaseFire.

— By Seattle Times staff

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