More Belltown violence: Man shot in neck

KOMO-TV STAFF

One man is hospitalized with gunshot wounds to the neck and two other men are under arrest following a drive-by shooting early Sunday in Belltown.

The shooting was the third violent incident in Belltown this weekend.

Officers responded to the scene, in the 500 block of Wall Street, at about 3:30 a.m. after receiving a 911 call about shots fired.

When officers arrived they found a man lying on the ground in front of the building. He had been shot in the neck, just below the jaw, and was rushed to Harborview Medical Center.

An investigation found that the victim and friends had been at a club in the 300 block of First Avenue North.

When they left the club, they noticed a white Camaro following them. The victim and friends were standing out in front of a building when the Camaro drove by and someone from the car fired several shots, police said.

A witness called 911 and gave a good description of the car. An officer waited by the Howell Street on-ramp to Interstate 5 and spotted the Camaro as it pulled onto the freeway.

The officer followed the Camaro as it headed south on I-5 and drove onto the collector-distributor lanes. The car was eventually stopped near South Dearborn Street.

The two occupants were taken into custody without incident. Two witnesses to the shooting positively identified the vehicle.

Officers then backtracked the route of the white Camaro and found a pistol on the roadway that is believed to be the one used in the shooting.

The suspects were booked into King County Jail for investigation of assault. Police say they believe the victim was the intended target of the gunmen.

In the other Belltown incidents this weekend:

• On Friday night, an apartment manager was stabbed in the arm on Friday night as he tried to remove a group of people from the building.

• On Sunday morning at 2:40 a.m. a man was assaulted by four other men when he confronted them about making "cat-calls" at his girlfriend.

• Also, on June 6, a man was shot dead and another was critically injured outside the V Club in Belltown in a shooting that was caught on home video.