The bullets that killed two victims at a Seattle festival over the weekend did not appear to come from the gun allegedly wielded by a 15-year-old suspect in custody, authorities said preliminary findings show in newly filed court records.
Two bystanders, 56-year-old Ashley Whitehead and 44-year-old Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, were killed in the July 26 shooting at the Bite of Seattle event near the city's Space Needle, police have said. Another person dead at the scene, 19-year-old Junior Cee Niko-Semo, is believed to be an associate of the 15-year-old and involved in the incident, police said. Several others at the festival, including a toddler, were struck by gunfire.
Seattle police said the shooting is likely linked to gang violence. Authorities
have said they are seeking another unknown suspect.
The revelations from the court documents filed on July 29 in King County, Washington, also revealed that investigators believe four firearms were used to shoot bullets at the festival, based on preliminary reviews of casings found at the scene.
The filings came as the 15-year-old was formally charged with assault in the first degree with a firearm enhancement and unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree. The teen used a "ghost gun," an illegal weapon without a serial number that police said was purchased in pieces and assembled by the user. Prosecutors said they hope to charge him as an adult.
USA TODAY has reached out to his public defender.
Police say 4 guns were involved in Seattle shooting
According to a statement by police to support probable cause for charges against the 15-year-old, which was obtained by USA TODAY, investigators found a total of 13 shell casings at the scene of the shooting at the Bite of Seattle festival. A review of the casings leads them to believe they came from four different handguns.
According to investigators, they included a cluster of .40-caliber shell casings located on a walkway near a T-Mobile booth. A single 9mm casing consistent with the 15-year-old's handgun, a Polymer80 gun, was found, and another consistent with his gun was turned in to police by a vendor. Another cluster of five 9mm shell casings were found along a fence to the east of where some of the injured victims were standing. Finally, a cluster of three 9mm casings were to the south of where the teen was taken into custody.
Notably, police said in the statement that projectiles recovered from the autopsies of Villalba and Whitehead "appear to exclude the Polymer80 handgun as the firearm involved in those deaths."
Investigators have not said what kind of gun fired the casings recovered from the autopsies or who they believe wielded it.
The Polymer80 had a vanity plate that said "1 SHOT 1 KILL," police said in the statement.
As the 15-year-old was arrested and being removed from the scene, officers heard him say "Love you bro" to Niko-Semo, the 19-year-old who died, as they passed by where he was lying after being shot in the torso, according to the filing.
Prosecutors want to charge teen as an adult
The 15-year-old who was arrested at the festival with the Polymer80 on his person was seen by police officers "pointing and firing a handgun into the vendor area," police said in the court filing. At least one officer also saw him "firing his gun multiple times into the crowd," the filing said.
The teen, whom USA TODAY is not naming because he is a minor, was not allowed to possess a gun because of his age, the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office said in a statement. His charges stem from illegally having the gun and allegedly firing into the crowd.
Prosecutors on July 29 filed a motion to decline jurisdiction in juvenile court.
"That does not mean the case is declined. That means that prosecutors are asking a judge to allow criminal prosecution as an adult," the prosecuting attorney's office said in a statement.
A judge will decide whether the 15-year-old can be tried as an adult, a process that typically takes months, the statement said. If convicted, his sentence will depend on how he is prosecuted.
The prosecuting attorney's office said the teen wasn't charged with murder in the July 29 filings because the investigation is still ongoing.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Seattle shooting victims weren't killed by 15-year-old's gun, police say
