A man shot two people at a popular Central District nightclub late Sunday, and Seattle police later fatally shot the man as they entered the bar.
Two others were taken to Harborview Medical Center, said Kyle Moore, spokesman for the Seattle Fire Department.
The shooting took place at the Twilight Exit on East Cherry Street just after 10 p.m., Seattle police said.
Witnesses and bar owner Stephan Mollmann said a man was ejected from the bar after arguing loudly with a woman. About 20 minutes later, he returned with a gun, entering through the club's alley entrance, and shot a doorman in the leg, they said.
"He was getting kicked out as I was coming in and we were getting our IDs checked," said Alex Koch, a 28-year-old Seattle Central Community College student.
When the man returned, he started yelling at a woman and shot her, according to the witnesses.
"I heard that first shot; everyone is getting under tables," Koch said. "I used a small table to barricade myself as he was shoving through the door."
Koch and others began streaming out a door onto East Cherry, while other patrons fled.
"At that point, there were two gunshots, then I heard a bunch of other gunshots," Koch said.
Seattle police, responding to a 911 call, had met the shooter as he was leaving, said Nick Metz, deputy chief of Seattle police.
Metz said his officers identified themselves but the shooter raised his gun and fired one shot. One officer returned fire, Metz said, and the man fell.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Metz said witnesses told police that the woman was the man's ex-girlfriend with whom he had a child. Witnesses' comments led police to believe the man might have harmed the child. Police later checked on the child, who was fine.
The doorman, in his 30s, suffered a gunshot wound to the leg. He remained in critical condition. The woman in her mid-20s was in stable condition, with multiple gunshot wounds.
Copyright 2013 - The Seattle Times
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
