Three stabbed in downtown altercation

KOMO-TV STAFF

Three men were stabbed Friday night in downtown Seattle by a man who reportedly told them, "You messed with the wrong (expletive)."

Police responded to the scene, at Third Avenue and Spring Street, at about 8:50 p.m., where they found a man with a stab wound to the abdomen. The other two victims had fled.

The stabbing victim was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment. He would provide no information to officers.

Eventually the two other stabbing victims showed up at Harborview and said they had been stabbed in the same area as the first victim. One of those two victims claimed all three victims had been together when they were assaulted.

Gang unit detectives questioned the men and learned that two of the victims were suspected gang members.

But on further investigation, detectives said this was not likely a gang-related incident. Instead it appeared that the three victims may have confronted a man who felt the need to defend himself.

One witness claimed the man with the knife shouted, "You messed with the wrong (expletive)," during the attack.

A search of the area turned up no trace of the knife-wielding suspect.