Man Shot Outside Pool Hall Left Vietnam 15 Months Ago

He had immigrated to Seattle from Vietnam a little over a year ago, to reunite with a father he hadn't seen in some five years.

Now his father will never see him again.

Hai Truong Dinh, 21, was shot and killed a few minutes after midnight Saturday following an argument at a pool hall at Martin Luther King Junior Way South and South Hudson Street.

Dinh died of multiple gunshot wounds to his chest, according to autopsy findings released yesterday by the King County Medical Examiner's Office. His death is classified as a homicide.

Police had no suspects yesterday but are hoping a videotape from a security camera mounted outside the South Seattle billiard hall will help them identify anyone involved in the shooting.

Dinh, born and raised in Vietnam, had immigrated to the Seattle area about 15 months ago, along with a younger sister, said an uncle, Thang Dinh of Kelowna, B.C. They came to join their father, who had immigrated to Seattle about five years before. His mother remained in Saigon.

"One of his plans was to get his mother here," Thang Dinh said of his nephew.

The uncle said Hai Dinh attended classes at Nathan Hale High School for a short time.

Witnesses told Seattle Police that Dinh got into an argument with another person inside Billiard Hoang. When the dispute moved outside to the parking lot, the person arguing with Dinh pushed him to the ground.

Witnesses said someone else then fired several bullets into him, then fled.

A second person there, an 18-year-old man, was shot in his left foot and was treated by paramedics. He was a friend of Dinh, said Sgt. Don Cameron of the Seattle Police Department, who did not disclose the man's identity.

"There's no indication that it was gang-related," Cameron said.

Detectives said yesterday there were no indications Dinh and the person he argued with were acquainted.