Seattle police have deployed an armored vehicle in their search for the gunman

November 4, 1999
Web posted at: 9:52 a.m. EDT (1352 GMT)

In this story: 'All I heard was gunshots' Aftermath and search Second multiple shooting in 2 days RELATED STORIES, SITES

SEATTLE (CNN) -- Police with armored vehicles, dogs and helicopters are combing a residential area near downtown Seattle in search of a man who shot and killed two men and wounded two others at the Northlake Shipyard.

"We have stopped a few people who have either matched a partial description or something that looks like a possibility there -- they have turned out to be negatives," said Seattle Police Department spokeswoman Pam McCannon. "We have a couple locations we are looking into because a neighbor has called or something didn't look right to someone."

TIMELINE Multiple shootings in the U.S. in 1999     AUDIO Listen to a witness describe the shooting 192K/16 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     MESSAGE BOARD Rage at work

Seattle Police Officer Clem Benton said one man with a handgun entered the shipyard, "apparently walked into the back of an office, said nothing, opened fire and walked out," fleeing on foot.

Authorities said the gunman was a white male in his 30s, about 5 foot 10 inches tall, average build, wearing sunglasses, black baseball cap and a dark coat over camouflage clothing.

Officer Carmen Best said one shooting victim described the gunman as "scruffy" with a brown beard and mustache. But the victim did not recognize the shooter.

Jeannie Parr said she was about six feet from where the shootings took place.

"He came in calmly," she told Northwest Cable News. "I didn't hear any sounds of a confrontation or argument. ... All I heard was gunshots."

Police had no information on a possible motive.

Numerous police units responded to the first 911 call at 10:32 a.m. (1:32 p.m. EST), Benton said.

All the shooting victims were men. One died at the scene, the other after 2 1/2 hours on the operating table at Harborview Medical Center, where members of his family were on hand waiting anxiously for the surgery to end, a hospital spokesman said. The man had been shot three times in the chest and abdomen.

Of the other two victims, a 58-year-old man was in critical condition with chest wounds and the other, a 19-year-old man with a gunshot wound in the right arm, was listed in stable condition.

Authorities said the gunman fled on foot into the city's Wallingford neighborhood after the shooting.

Police, using a tracking dog, were hunting for the gunman in the residential area. But an hour after the shooting, it appeared the dog lost the trail.

Heavily armed officers could be seen carefully looking under porches and behind fences as they went from house to house searching for the gunman.

Police had imposed a "lockdown" at elementary and middle schools in the general area, meaning no one can enter or leave, but classes continue.

Later in the afternoon, Susan McClosky, principal of B.F. Day Elementary School, said authorities told her she could release her students as normal after classes end. School buses are lined up, and some parents have arrived to pick up their children.

Police are searching the Wallingford neighborhood for the gunman

The shooting at Northlake Shipyard occurred on the first floor of the two- story building on the north shore of Lake Union, which is north of downtown Seattle. The building houses several businesses, including an electronics company and a firm that sells satellite equipment for maritime communications.

Northlake was described as a do-it-yourself shipyard facility with seven employees. One shipyard employee working on a boat outside said he heard seven to nine shots.

"We kind of thought it was a joke at first, because this is the last thing you think of," the man said. He said he then made a 911 call to police. He said a co-worker told him the shooter was using a handgun and wearing a mask.

It was the nation's second multiple shooting in two days. Seven workers at a Xerox parts warehouse in Honolulu were killed Tuesday; and the suspected gunman, Xerox Corp. repairman Byran Uyesugi, is to be arraigned Thursday.

Aftrer news of the Seattle shooting reached the White House, President Clinton said federal authorities have offered all appropriate assistance to local officials.

"I join with all Americans in expressing shock and profound sorrow with the shootings which have occurred over the last few days in Honolulu and Seattle," said Clinton. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families."

Correspondent Jim Hill and CNN Affiliate KIRO contributed to this report.

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