Man found shot to death in car near Seattle's Seward Park
SEATTLE - Police have launched a homicide investigation into the shooting death of a man in his car early Thursday in south Seattle near Seward Park.
Officers responded to the scene, at 54th Avenue South and South Grattan Place near Seward Park, just before 4 a.m. after several neighbors called 911 to report they heard shots fired and then saw the man slumped over his steering wheel.
One neighbor reported hearing another car start and leave the area immediately afterward.
When police arrived, the found the 27-year-old victim sitting in the driver's seat of a blue Buick LeSabre. The engine was running and the driver's side window was rolled down.
The man does not appear to be from the immediate area.
The victim had been shot multiple times in his upper body, Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt told KOMO News. Seattle Fire responded and attempted to resuscitate the victim. Their efforts were unsuccessful.
Officers combed the area searching for the suspect or suspects. It is unknown what preceded the shooting.
There was no suspect description.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Seattle Police Department Homicide tip line at 206-233-5000. Anonymous tips are welcome.
The shooting is the 24th homicide this year in Seattle, four more than in all of last year. It is the first Seattle case since the Aug. 31 shooting death of Yancy Noll, whose suspected killer was caught last month.
Officers responded to the scene, at 54th Avenue South and South Grattan Place near Seward Park, just before 4 a.m. after several neighbors called 911 to report they heard shots fired and then saw the man slumped over his steering wheel.
One neighbor reported hearing another car start and leave the area immediately afterward.
When police arrived, the found the 27-year-old victim sitting in the driver's seat of a blue Buick LeSabre. The engine was running and the driver's side window was rolled down.
The man does not appear to be from the immediate area.
The victim had been shot multiple times in his upper body, Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt told KOMO News. Seattle Fire responded and attempted to resuscitate the victim. Their efforts were unsuccessful.
Officers combed the area searching for the suspect or suspects. It is unknown what preceded the shooting.
There was no suspect description.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Seattle Police Department Homicide tip line at 206-233-5000. Anonymous tips are welcome.
The shooting is the 24th homicide this year in Seattle, four more than in all of last year. It is the first Seattle case since the Aug. 31 shooting death of Yancy Noll, whose suspected killer was caught last month.
Rest in Peace to my dude Jamie you will be missed bro but you will never be forgotten my thoughts and prayers go out to family
RIP Jamie. You will be remembered always. Love goes out to you and your family.
REST IN PEACE JAMIE.....
You all sound stupid.... That was a friend of mine & you all are so quick to say drugs or gangs. Not everyone that has ben shot & killed is into drugs & or gangs. So until the facts are given STOP JUDGING... SHOW'S YOUR IGNORANCE!!!!!!!
 @Queen Dizzz Absolutely agree! It is so disrespectful....I too knew him. I went to school with him for many years. I remember him as the class clown, a boy with a dazzling smile who made everyone laugh. My heart just breaks thinking about the fact that his family and close friends might read some of the disgusting accusations people are posting here. Unless you were there and knew exactly what happened - just be quiet.
I do not know the circumstances surrounding this shooting and if it is not gang related it is truly tragic BUT if it is another typical gang shooting which is very common in that area of town all i can say is that someone getting killed is not ok however you need to think before you decide to live a certain lifestyle. I know this personally because I have lived it and I will tell you first hand that most of the time you end up either dead or in prison. I grew up in the ghetto and the lifestyle was part of my everyday life BUT I had common sense and looked around at the people in my neighborhood noticed that either most of them are on welfare or will end up on a park bench in pioneer square and I knew trying to prove something was not worth it. Trying to prove something was not worth it and I did not want to be just another stereotype or statistic. Which unfortunately due to what I have seen I can honestly tell you that stereotypes are there for a reason and yes I do understand why people are judgemental and come to certain conclusions.
The focus shouldn't be on how many homicides have occurred this year. A man is dead and was shot to death. Condolences to the family of the victim.
@Koreanman012 Unless your offering yourself up to be number 25 it absolutely should be!!!
KING was the only one to call this area what it is. Rainier Beach.
There was an Asian guy named Savan Kong who supposedly lives across from this morningâs shooting scene has been all over the TV news interjecting himself as the hero witness. I am always suspicious of these guys and gals who jump in front of the camera for their 15 minutes of fame, wondering whats his agenda. My Condolences to the family and friends of the victim.
@Harrison
I wasn't injecting myself into any situation. The shooting happened on my street. I have lived in this house since '92. I didn't ask for the situation and don't wish it on anyone. I jog these streets multiple times a day training for a marathon; walk my kids while they ride their bikes up and down to Pritchard; have them walk home from school â so something like this is super scary for our entire family.  I hope they catch whoever did this so my kids don't have to walk around scared of drive-bys and drugs.Â
@Savan Kong
Thank you for sharing your position hope you and your family will recover from unusual occurrence on your street.
 @Harrison Maybe not in this situation... but.... usually the witness is the first suspect!
Wait, someone got shot and killed in America today? How is this news?Â
He wuz in da wrong hood. On another note, we really need to implement the death penalty for these gang related gun crimes. It's da only language these boyz iz gonna unnerstand.Â
I love how KOMO is so dramatic and tries to get everyone all scared.Â
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"The shooting is the 24th homicide this year in Seattle, four more than in all of last year."
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Really KOMO? Four off the mark seems nearly the same pace as last year. I can remember in the 90's when Seattle's homicide rate was much higher. Also, Seattle had several homicides early in the year, including one that was a massacre. I think like 6 months ago Seattle was already at 20. It's actually slowing down. Responsible media should report the truth, not twist it for a story.Â
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Regardless, I hope they catch the guy that did this.Â
Do simple math calculations hurt your head?
 @FremontTroll "Four off the mark seems nearly the same pace as last year" - Except that is four more than *all* of last year. So to have 24 homicides in the first 9 months of this year, compared to 20 in the entire 12 months of last year - that could be interpreted to being a notable increase.
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I haven't stopped to do the math though - how much higher, percent wise are we this year than last year? And - some years are higher than others, some are lower. Is this year actually significantly higher than others, or is it just a typical blip in the numbers?
 @Silvia You are more likely to be shot and killed by a cop in Seattle than killed by a criminal.
@FremontTroll @Silvia BAZING!
 @FremontTroll I doubt it. Seems like most people being killed by police officers are the "bad guys" (and gals). I'm a nice person, I keep my nose out of trouble, so the interactions that I have with LEOs are very positive. I can't say that about my interactions with criminals, however.
 @Silvia But we had a massacre and have had only 4 in 6 months. The record is 69 murders and that was nearly 20 years ago and we had a smaller population. I wouldn't start panicking any time soon. We are always going to hover between 20 and 40 homicides.
If there were traffic cameras, store cameras close to the park "...One neighbor reported hearing another car start and leave the area immediately afterward."Â good point of reference to start. I wish, I could investigate these types of crimes....
 @Funky-Munky Raise your right hand and allow we the people to deputize you:)
 @Harrison I can't help but be fascinated by crime scenes... I guess too many criminal justice classes, t.v. and morbid curiosity compels me to be fascinated by the macabre.
 @Harrison Thanks for the site.... I will check it out. Good to see your comments in addition.
@Funky-Munky Here is a site you might get a kick out of. It's call Crime Scene dot com and I have been attempting to solve the case mysteries for about 15 years now. It is the first website I ever joned on the internet, back in the day. http://www.crimescene.com
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Always good to see your comments here on KOMO
Hopefully the family has already been notified seeings how KOMO is showing the guys license plate.
 @DarkParty Yep - definitely a no no.
I get the feeling that even if there had been a number of witnesses that the tip line will remain silent.
My guess is DRUGS..... Probably went to score some crap or sell some crap...... passenger/park dealer blew him away for a little bit of cash or drugs.... or both......
You have no business being out at that time unless you're looking for trouble. This was obviously drug/gang related.
 @thetruthhurts Or getting off work, who are you to know exactly what other people's business is?
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Not saying that this guy wasn't up to no good, but to throw out assumptions like you are makes you look like an a$$.
 @thetruthhurts My buddy and I used to jog at Seward Park long before it was ever light out. Not sure it was 4am but pretty close. not everyone down there is up to no good.
@FremontTroll no, not everyone...but most.
@thetruthhurts Well,glad you cleared that up. I'll make sure I am never out in my truck at night parked anywhere, epecially in a nice area like seward park. Matter of fact I'll start going to bed at 8 now.
@northwestsurfer
Yes I know...it's common sense, but you would be surprised how many people are lacking in common sense...very similiar to people that ride their bikes directly into the path of a semi and don't expect to get run over. :)
 @northwestsurfer You better be in bed with the lights out young man...... seriously other than work.... not good hours to keep..... those hours belong to Tweaks, freaks and coffee drinkin' doughnut munchin' officers.....
ANOTHER KILLER on the loose in our once-fair city! What the ____K is going on??!!
 @TheTruncheon Seattle is still a fair city. 2010 the city had a record 55 yr low in homicides. Even with the 5 murders carried out by a lunatic this year we are a long way from the record 69 homicides in 1994.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Seattle-homicides-plunge-to-55-year-low-935606.php
 @jds_55 Yeah, well there's still 3 months to go in 2012... How much you wanna bet we WON'T hit 70 murders by the end of this year?
 @TheTruncheon  @jds_55 We probably won't even hit 30. Seattle is one of the safer big cities as far as murder rates in the country. Property crime and drugs? That's another story.Â
Twenty-seven is far too young to go. Whatever happened here, condolences to this man's family and friends.