Two Killed, Five Wounded in Shooting at Seattle's Bite of Seattle Festival Near Space Needle

Two people are dead and five others wounded after gunfire erupted Sunday evening at the Bite of Seattle food festival near the Space Needle in Seattle, according to the Seattle Fire Department. The shooting happened around 6 p.m. local time at Seattle Center, the entertainment complex that houses the Space Needle and Climate Pledge Arena, according to CBS News. The Seattle Police Department posted on X that it was "investigating a shooting" with "multiple shooting victims" and told the public to "avoid the area." The fire department said two victims were pronounced dead at the scene after life-saving efforts failed. A 56-year-old woman was taken to a hospital in serious condition. Three other victims, including a 2-year-old boy, were hospitalized in stable condition. A fifth person suffered minor injuries and declined transport to a hospital, according to CBS News. The fire department did not detail the nature of the injuries. As of Sunday night, police had not confirmed whether anyone had been taken into custody, according to Fox News. No suspect description or motive has been released. The shooting hit during one of Seattle's biggest annual gatherings. The Bite of Seattle, running as a three-day festival, draws roughly 350,000 people over the weekend, according to the event's own figures cited by CBC News. It's been held since 1982. Witnesses described chaos as gunfire rang out. Kayla Carris, 22, who was sitting outside the Armory building, told the Seattle Times that people were "throwing stuff and running" trying to get inside for cover, a quote picked up by both Fox News and the LA Times. Todd Behrends, 59, told the Seattle Times he heard several rounds of shots and saw people jumping over each other to flee, including a woman who was stepped on after she fell. Two festival attendees told KOMO they counted "seven to eight shots." CBS News affiliate KIRO-TV reporter Heather Bosch said she witnessed at least one person receiving CPR at the scene. Other witnesses quoted by KIRO, including Nick Bate and Leanne Coles, described initially mistaking the gunfire for fireworks before the crowd began running. Adding to the chaos in the area, AP News reported separately that Seattle police were also searching for two men who parachuted from the Space Needle Sunday, though it's unclear whether that incident is connected to the shooting or was a separate matter entirely. The coverage across outlets was largely consistent on the core facts, though the death toll evolved as reporting continued through the evening. Fox News' initial report, filed shortly after the shooting began, described only "multiple people wounded" without confirming any deaths, reflecting the early and incomplete picture police had at that point. CBC News and the LA Times, both citing the Associated Press, likewise reported only injuries with no confirmed fatalities. CBS News, with its later update citing the Seattle Fire Department directly, was the source confirming two deaths and the full breakdown of the five additional injured, including the toddler. The LA Times noted this shooting adds to a grim national tally. At least 270 mass shootings have occurred so far in 2026, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot. The LA Times also noted that violent crime overall has been trending downward nationwide, a data point worth holding alongside the raw mass-shooting count rather than in place of it. No motive has been established. No arrest has been announced. Seattle police have not released a suspect description, weapon type, or any indication of whether the shooting targeted specific individuals or was fired indiscriminately into the crowd. Given the timing, at a densely packed festival on a Sunday evening, investigators will likely lean heavily on cellphone video and festival security footage to reconstruct the sequence of shots and identify who fired them. The Seattle Police Department has not said when it expects to release additional details, including the identities of the two people killed or an update on the woman in serious condition. The Bite of Seattle festival's status for any remaining scheduled events has not been addressed by organizers as of Sunday night.