The Seattle Police Department (SPD) says a man was shot Monday morning on 1st Avenue Northeast, near the Northgate transit center.
At around 7:40 am, officers found a 48-year-old man with a gunshot to the head, SPD says.
He was brought to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition.
Seattle Police Detective Brian Pritchard tells KIRO 7 that initial reports reveal two people approached the man and one of them allegedly shot him in the back of the head.
The two then left the scene on foot and may have gotten into a car, Detective Prichard said.
Investigators do not know if the two people had any interaction with the man before the shooting.
SPD says the victim may have been leaving the light rail station before being shot, and was found on the ground level outside the station.
Sound Transit officials say security will be increased at the Northgate station in the coming days, and reaffirmed that the agency has upped security over the last few years.
A KIRO 7 investigation in May found Northgate had the second-highest number of assaults on Link light rail last year.
A Sound Transit official said the stations that saw the most assaults were often also seeing the most traffic, and said the numbers were likely just part of volume.
Some riders have noticed increased security presence.
“I have noticed a lot more security, transit security on trains,” said Todd Moser, who said he’s always felt safe riding public transit.
Chris Nelson, another regular transit rider, also said he’s never had any issues on public transit. The incident on Monday shocked him.
“I guess what I thought of is the victim’s family,” Nelson said. “I feel so sorry for them.”
©2025 Cox Media Group
