Thursday saw a horrifying shooting incident take place at Seattle Pacific University, as a man entered the university building wielding a knife and a shotgun. The gunman fired shots, which proved to be fatal to a 19-year-old at the university. He was then subdued by another student who maced him with pepper spray just as he was reloading the gun. Following this, a student monitor disarmed the suspect just when was stepping into the Otto Miller Hall foyer, and many other students joined in to pin him down after which police officers took over the scene.
The university immediately ordered a lock-down throughout the campus for many hours, alerting staff and students to remain within the building. A few students were even taking their final exam in the building where the shootout occurred. The gunman is said to have fired multiple shots and had extra rounds as well, claims the police.
The shootout saw one 19-year-old succumb to death at the Harborview Medical Center, while three others were left injured. Among the three victims who survived the shootout, one woman aged 20 was immediately sent to surgery, while two men aged 24 and 22, just one of whom was shot, were not critically hurt and reported to be in a satisfactory condition.
Paul McDonaugh, the Assistant Police Chief, identified the suspect as a 26 year-old white male who isn’t from the university. The Police Chief said that they would not divulge the name of the suspect until he was registered in jail for a murder investigation. McDonaugh added that the situation would have escalated to a far more tragic event had it not been for the initiative taken by the people around.
The Christian university in the Seattle neighborhood has nearly 4,270 students. The school was just a week away from the end of its term when the shooting incident took place. The situation in the school remained tense even after the shootout as the police announced that they were on the lookout for another suspect. The announcement came from reports that there was another person in the campus with a weapon, although it wasn’t conformed by investigators. McDonagh later reported that there was just one suspect involved in the shootout. He also reported that the motive of the suspect has not been identified yet and that detectives are still working out the reasons behind targeting the victims.