Man Faces Murder Charge In Pioneer Square Shooting

A 19-year-old machinist will be arraigned Monday on murder and assault charges in connection with an attack outside a Pioneer Square bar last Sunday morning that left one man dead and two women injured.

Sean Schaffer, of Seattle, is accused in King County Superior Court of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree assault.

John Magee, 28, of Kirkland, was shot five times outside The Celebrity Bar and Grill, in the 300 block of Second Avenue South, just before 2 a.m. Sunday.

Magee's murder was the sixth in the Pioneer Square area since March 25. It was the fourth murder involving bar patrons in the popular nightclub district.

Magee's companion, Sheila Rachal, was shot in the hand, and a bystander, Allison Tadeo, was struck in both feet with bullet fragments.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Lee Yates wrote in charging papers that Schaffer and Magee had bumped into each other in the nightclub and argued late Saturday night.

Magee was apparently talking with friends outside the bar at 1:30 a.m. when Schaffer renewed the argument. Witnesses claim Magee finally said, "I don't even know you," and began to walk away.

Schaffer allegedly pulled a pistol from his back waistband and fired five shots into Magee, who was unarmed. Some of the shots came after Magee was laying wounded on the sidewalk, the prosecutor said.

Magee died at Harborview Medical Center. Both Rachal and Tadeo were treated and released.

Yates said Schaffer jumped into a waiting car and sped off after the shooting, but turned himself in Tuesday after he learned that police were looking for him.

Yates said Schaffer told police in a tape-recorded statement that he believed Magee had a weapon.