Three men were injured in a shootout early Saturday morning in the parking lot near a sports bar on Kent’s East Hill.
A 44-year-old California man remained in critical condition on Tuesday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to an email from Kent Police spokeswoman Melanie Robinson.
A 25-year-old Seattle man and a 28-year-old man, whose hometown was unknown, sustained non-life threatening injuries.
Officers responded at about 1:30 a.m. to Sam’s Sports Bar, 23803 104th Ave. SE, to reports of multiple gunshots and three men injured.
“Sadly we still have minimal information in this case due to victims and witnesses not necessarily being cooperative, or simply not knowing what occurred,” Robinson said. “There unfortunately is no known motive at this point either. It is unknown if this was gang related, but we are not ruling that out.”
Multiple shots were fired from multiple guns, said Robinson, who did not specify an exact number.
“We know there are likely multiple suspects firing guns, based off of witness accounts and different firearms being involved,” she said.
A witness who contacted the Kent Reporter estimated more than 50 shots were fired based on shots he heard and casings on the ground. He said shots were fired at the south end of the parking lot as well as from the center of the lot.
Sam Virk, owner of the sports bar, said in an interview Tuesday that the shooting occurred on the south end of the parking lot near several businesses in the area. He said two of the shooting victims ran into the bar for help because other businesses were closed.
Virk said he didn’t know whether the men in the shootout were in the bar earlier in the night or just met up in the parking lot. He said Can-Am Pizza, 23819 104th Ave. SE, had gunshot holes in its building.
A witness told the Reporter that two of the injured men were in the bar before the shooting in the parking lot and one of them is a regular customer with possible gang connections.
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