Five people were hurt in shootings across Seattle overnight, and police had yet to make any arrests as of Sunday evening. It was a shooting in the University District that has students calling on police to add more enforcement.
Witnesses told police a bar fight erupted into shots fired and four people were hurt.
Some students told KOMO they'll be in groups when they come back to the typically busy area full of shops and restaurants.
One person jumped in to help someone who was shot.
“We were just hanging out inside the bar and next thing we hear is like five gunshots going off. It was like ‘pop, pop, pop!’” witness Ivan Avila stated.
He described his friends running away amid shots ringing out around 1 a.m. outside a popular U-District bar, as he rushed to help someone who was shot in the leg.
“I even wrapped around my belt. I wrapped it around his leg because he was bleeding so much,” Avila added.
Later Sunday, some UW students said the chaotic scene had them scrambling to make sure their friends were OK.
“Everyone was OK but the shock and the worry were still there,” student Luke McFadden stated.
That was the first Seattle shooting reported overnight.
“It’s crazy. It’s so close to the UW students and this calls into question the safety of the area I know a lot of students felt nervous and rattled and they’re hesitant to come back,” student Griffith Gamblin added.
UW released a statement regarding the weekend violence.
Around 2:30 a.m., police said someone fired at cars and buildings in the International District. Officers found 29 shell casings, plus live rounds and bullet fragments.
Just minutes later, officers responded to a report of a shot fired in Pioneer Square. A victim showed up at Harborview, claiming he tried to break up a fight when he was shot in the leg, according to SPD.
UW students say the overnight shooting should serve as a wake-up call for the city to do something about the violence in the U-District, where there was another shooting on Friday.
“I would like to see a bigger police presence. In the times I’ve walked with my friends, there’s been no presence at all. Stuff has gone on- definitely some suspicious stuff and this seems to go on unabated,” McFadden said.
The investigations are ongoing. Anyone with information about the three shootings is urged to call SPD's tip line at 206-233-5000.
Police have yet to say if these shootings are connected or if they plan to add more officers in the U-District.