Man held without bail after three days of Seattle shootings

SEATTLE (AP) — A 31-year-old Seattle man is being held without bail after being arrested in what police describe as a three-day shooting that left a business owner, the owner of a another in critical condition and the driver of a car injured in the leg.

Authorities say the suspect shot and seriously injured the owner of a store specializing in imports from Africa in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle on Monday. He demanded the businessman’s debit card and PIN, then shot him in the chest after he complied, police said in a probable cause statement filed in New York Superior Court. Kings County.

The man shot at a Tesla driving on Aurora Avenue north of Seattle less than 12 hours later, injuring the driver in the leg, police said, and on Tuesday afternoon he pulled his car alongside the a woman’s vehicle and shot her in the window. . Her three children were not injured, but she suffered cuts from broken glass.

On Wednesday, the man ambushed and killed D’Vonne Pickett Jr., the owner of The Postman, a parcel shipping store in the Central District, as Pickett arrived at the business, police said. The shooter was a former childhood friend who harassed Pickett online and via text; he also reported to the Postman last month before employees told him to leave, according to the probable cause statement.

Hundreds of people attended a vigil for Pickett on Thursday, spelling his name in candles and placing long-stemmed roses at the spot where he collapsed, the Seattle Times reported.

Pickett’s mother, Nicky Chappell, said the man had threatened to kill her son and had been harassing him and other family members for over a year. Chappell has vowed to attend each of the man’s future court appearances.

The Associated Press is not naming the man because he has not yet been charged.

« This defendant is incredibly dangerous, possibly the most dangerous defendant this court has seen recently, » Senior Assistant Prosecutor William Doyle told District Court Judge Tien Nguyen during a hearing on Friday.

Investigators said surveillance video from the African specialty import store, exterior cameras on the murder of Tesla and Pickett linked the shootings. Detectives are also examining bullet casings and other evidence.

Additionally, a relative of the suspect called 911 on Wednesday to report that he appeared to be having a psychotic episode and « may be traveling around Seattle shooting people, » the statement said.

« I find the suspect’s clothing, stature, build, personal appearance and vehicle to be consistent across investigations, » Seattle Police Detective Matthew Atkinson wrote in the probable cause statement.

When the man was arrested Thursday at his south Seattle apartment, he was wearing the same shirt, shorts and shoes as seen in the videos, the statement said.

The Associated Press

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