A crowd grew rowdy outside an illegal street race in Seattle, with people throwing things and jumping on a police cruiser just mere hours before four people were shot.
The Seattle Police Department released dashcam footage of a large crowd that gathered at the intersection of Broadway and East Pike Street around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
“Initial attempts to disband the crowd were met with resistance,” the police department said in a statement.
Police were called to the Capitol Hill neighborhood for reports of a large crowd and vehicles driving recklessly.
As officers attempted to make their way down the street, they were met with the assemblage standing in a line while flashing middle fingers and filming them.
One man in a tie-dye sweatshirt gyrated his hips with his back to the car before leaning back against the vehicle and posing for a photo. Quickly, several others joined him, with some climbing onto the hood of the car and throwing thick liquids onto the windshield.
“Sir, they’re climbing on our vehicle,” one officer said over the intercom system.
Officers were told to back up after people removed themselves from the vehicle. As they backed up, members of the crowd started moving police barriers to further block the street while another man slammed a skateboard on the ground menacingly while following them. Others threw objects at the squad car as the officers flashed their lights at them.
Three-and-a-half hours later, four people would be shot at the illegal event, according to Seattle Police.
Two victims — a male and female in their 20s or 30s — were found shot at the intersection.
“Life-saving measures” had to be performed on both subjects, police revealed. They were transported to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition.
A third victim, a female, was found several blocks away, but “did not remain in the area,” police said. She later arrived at the hospital.
A fourth victim, a male, also showed up to the hospital with “non-life-threatening gunshot wounds,” law enforcement said in a statement.
Additional gunshots were heard off Harvard Avenue and police found one man who said he had been shot at.
Police were searching for the gunman.
