SEATTLE — First appearance court documents detail the moments that led up to a man’s shooting death at the Northgate Transit Center earlier this week.
On July 28, a 49-year-old man was walking through the transit station when he was shot in the back of the head.
According to court documents, surveillance video showed the victim go down an escalator, and was followed by a person who was wearing a sweatshirt, a blue mask that covered their entire head and black gloves.
The video shows the person behind the victim raise his arm and fire once, hitting the victim in the back of the head, court docs said.
Once the victim fell, it appears the suspect tried to fire again at his chest, but the gun may have malfunctioned, court documents state.
The suspect ran off, and a witness saw him get away in a gold sedan.
Police were able to get the license plate from the surveillance and tracked the suspect’s movements through city Department of Transportation cameras.
The 28-year-old suspect was arrested two days later in West Seattle.
According to court documents, both the victim and the suspect were enrolled as students at the Pema Medical Institute, which is right near the transit center.
It’s unclear if the pair knew each other.
Court records say the accused shooter was not in class the day of the shooting.
In the court documents section titled: “law enforcement object to release?,”
“Suspect executed the pre-meditated murder of a class mate. He planned the murder, lay in wait for the victim, who he shot in the back of the head without warning. The motivation for this murder is unknown at this time and investigators do not know if the suspect has any additional targets,” the court documents said under a section titled: “law enforcement obeject to release?”
The “yes” box was checked.
The suspect was booked for first-degree murder.
The investigation is ongoing.
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