Seattle police arrested two teenage boys after a shootout in the Mount Baker neighborhood Wednesday afternoon and recovered a handgun modified to fire automatically.
Officers responded just before 1 p.m. to reports of gunfire in the 3300 block of Wetmore Avenue South. Police arrived to find multiple spent shell casings scattered at the scene. Witnesses told officers they saw two teens running from the area immediately after the shooting.
Responding officers quickly caught up with the suspects and detained them. A search turned up a handgun equipped with an extended magazine and an auto sear, commonly called a switch, which converts a semi-automatic weapon into one capable of automatic fire. The modification is illegal under federal law.
Investigators determined the boys exchanged gunfire with at least two other individuals who fled before police arrived. Officers deployed a K9 team to search the surrounding area for the outstanding suspects but did not locate them. The identities and whereabouts of those individuals remain unknown.
The arrested teens, ages 16 and 17, face charges of unlawful possession of a firearm. Police said both handled the weapon during the incident. Both teens are convicted felons under 18 and are legally prohibited from possessing firearms. They were booked into juvenile detention at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center.
Two nearby schools sheltered in place during the investigation as a precaution. No students were injured, and normal operations resumed after police cleared the scene. The circumstances that led to the shooting remain under investigation. Police have not released information about what sparked the confrontation or whether the teens knew the other shooters.
