Unease as shootings in Everett, Lynnwood area appear unrelated

LYNNWOOD — In one night, four people were shot in three apparently unrelated attacks across two cities.

Wednesday night was the latest in a series of gun violence from Lynnwood to south Everett.

Last week, gunfire erupted on 4th AvenueW, not far from a rivalry football game between Kamiak and Mariner high schools at Goddard Stadium. Word of the shots spread quickly, with hundreds of spectators and students evacuated. There were no reported injuries from those bullets, but one person reportedly suffered a leg injury in the mayhem.

The fright of last week led some Kamiak students to organize a peace rally scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday at the Mariner parking lot.

As of Thursday afternoon, no arrests were made in any of the past week's shootings.

All of this has happened as the City of Everett has launched new programs aimed at gang and gun violence prevention.

Violence does not adhere to city limits or school district boundaries, however. Over the past several years, there have been attacks in Edmonds, Everett, Marysville, Mill Creek and Mukilteo.

A young man and a young woman were hurt in separate shootings Wednesday south of Everett and in Lynnwood, respectively.

In Lynnwood, a 19-year-old woman and a man, 22, were in a vehicle around 8:30 p.m. when they were shot. Originally reported as a drive-by shooting near the intersection of Olympic View and Blue Ridge drives, detectives now believe the gunfire occurred in the parking lot of nearby Lynndale Park. Investigators also believe there were at least two shooters and the two parties had arranged a drug deal.

The suspects drove off in what was described as a silver car. At least one other person may have been in the car.

The woman was shot in the neck. She originally was reported to be in critical condition, but her status has improved, Lynnwood police Cmdr. Sean Doty said. The man was shot in the arm. Both were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Investigators think the shooter or shooters might have known the victims. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Sgt. Doug Teachworth at 425-670-5616, or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

Later, in the middle of the night, about a mile away near 173rd Place Southwest and 60th Avenue West, a 23-year-old man looking for his dog was shot in the back by someone in a vehicle, Lynnwood police said.

He was taken to a nearby hospital.

He told police that he and his sister were driving around looking for their lost dog.

According to his account, he ended up passing a tan or brown car, possibly a Honda, near a dead-end road behind the Meadowdale High School football fields. He reported that someone inside that vehicle shot at his car unprovoked. The bullet grazed his back and his sister was not injured.

Police were told that four people, described as young and male, were inside the car that drove off.

South of Everett, shortly after 8 p.m., an altercation involving four men outside a mini mart in the 300 block of 112th Street SW left one man with a gunshot wound and life-threatening injuries. The 22-year-old man was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.

Two suspects drove off in a passenger vehicle, the sheriff's office said. Detectives believe the shooting was gang-related, but not related to shots fired last week on Fourth Avenue West.

The shootings have created a sense of unease among some and a spirit of resolve in others.

During a City of Everett meeting earlier this week, the shooting near Mariner High School south of Everett was one of the main concerns people asked about and discussed. Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin said the city had a spike in youth gang and firearm violence in 2017.

That motivated her to direct a citywide response to gang and firearm violence as a public safety issue. The response had two prongs: one was getting people together from the courts, law enforcement, youth clubs, schools and affected neighborhoods to come up with ideas for intervention and prevention; the other was gun safety, such as offering free gun locks to combat firearm theft.

The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office had not determined if the shots fired last week were gang-related. Whether or not they were mattered little to the people cowering and taking cover.

"Last Friday, there was obviously a lot of mass panic really quickly because we didn't know what was going on," said Kamiak senior Jordan Smeby, who was there as a member of the school band.

The 17-year-old is one of the Sept. 23 peace rally organizers. She said assembling is a way to celebrate each other and help their neighbors.

"After we all went through that together, one thing I think we all want to do is bring the two school communities together," she said.

Smeby said she and other Kamiak students were planning a simple get together, one where food donations would be accepted and delivered to area food banks. She said she asked students at Mariner to spread the word and help organize as well.

Mariner, part of the Mukilteo School District, is south of Everett, in unincorporated Snohomish County.

"It's not a south Everett problem," Smeby said. "It was an entire Mukilteo School District problem that evening."