Seattle’s community was struck by loss after a street gunfight broke out on Sunday evening at the city’s annual Bite of Seattle food festival, leaving three people dead and four injured.
The victims were Junior Cee Niko Semo, 19, Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44, and Ashley Whitehead, 56. A GoFundMe page for Villalba highlighted him as a devoted husband, a loving father of three and a loyal friend, while Whitehead was described as a “lover of life, art and family.”
Monday evening drew a candlelit vigil at a local fountain, attended by Mayor Katie Wilson, Police Chief Chris Thurman and dozens of residents. Wilson condemned gun violence, saying that no parent should have to bury a child, and urged the community to stand together.
Police say a suspected gunfight at the festival, which ran until the evening of its final day, left three dead. Two suspects are in custody and a third remains at large while investigators work to establish a timeline of the shooting.
Governor Bob Ferguson posted that the community was shocked and struggling to reconcile how a “celebratory” event could end in gunfire, underscoring the urgent need for safer public spaces.
