He Was `Just A Peach Of A Kid'

A BELOVED GRANDSON; a `go-to guy' on the job; a skilled fisherman; a quiet teenager - these were the people targeted by a gunman in yesterday's shootings at Northlake Shipyard. Here is a closer look at each of them:

Peter Giles

"Look at this picture," Richard Kelly told a reporter yesterday, pointing at a family group photo taken outdoors. "He's the kid in the middle . . . just a peach of a kid."

Struggling with grief and confusion at home in Magnolia, Kelly and his wife, Donna, were at a loss to understand who might have wanted to harm their 27-year-old grandson, Peter Giles.

"The little kids liked him. The old ladies liked him. As they say, the good die young," Kelly said.

Giles, a Queen Anne Hill resident, was born in Seattle in 1972, the son of George and Katherine Giles. George Giles worked in insurance and the family moved often, spending time in Dallas, Philadelphia and Libertyville, Ill. Reports indicate Giles' parents were on their way to Seattle after receiving news of the tragedy.

Peter Giles earned a bachelor's degree in business four years ago from the University of Illinois-Urbana, then spent a year at the Sorbonne in France. He spent summers in shipyards and at other jobs to raise money to continue his education.

Giles loved being around boats, and by the age of 21, he had already earned a Coast Guard license allowing him to be the captain of a 500-foot vessel, his grandfather said.

After graduation, he went to work with his two uncles who operate Northlake Shipyard. He became so good at management that his uncles often left him in charge. Such was the case yesterday, when the gunman walked into the business.

"It showed you what a capable kid he was," Kelly said. "When he died, the two bosses were on vacation."

Kelly and his wife, Donna, described their grandson as a bright, energetic young man who enjoyed lacrosse, dated and had girlfriends, but was not currently in a serious relationship.

A cousin of Giles, Luke Justice, was also stunned by the news. "I don't know anybody who could kill him," Justice said.

At the Pacific Inn Pub, a few blocks from the shooting scene, Giles was remembered as a cheerful regular customer and a good tipper.

"Everybody likes Pete," said waitress Michele Cooper. "He is a super nice person," she said, continuing to speak of Giles in the present tense, despite word that he had died. "He doesn't have a mean bone in his body."

Cooper said Giles didn't talk much about his job, but she remembered his usual brew, Harper's Sierra Nevada, and the fact that he frequently bought rounds for others.

"He really had a good heart," she said. "You didn't have to know him super well to tell."

Several times while Cooper talked about Giles, memories caused her to burst into peals of laughter. Then, as the television above the bar reminded her of the tragedy, she began to cry.

Russell Brisendine

An electrician by training, Brisendine was a trusted supervisor at the shipyard and a longtime right-hand man to its owners.

"He was probably the top man at the shipyard as far as taking care of problems," said Taylor Pennock, a machinist at a Ballard shipyard who had worked with Brisendine in the past. "Anything that broke down or needed repair - he was the guy," said Pennock.

Brisendine, shot three times in the chest and abdomen, leaves behind a wife and four sons - two teenagers and two younger boys - said grief-stricken neighbors in the wooded Lynnwood cul-de-sac where the family lives.

"I don't know why something like this has to happen to a good guy like him," said Felipe Sanchez, who lives across the street.

Brisendine's brother, Steven, 41, of Spicer, Minn., said today he has no idea why his brother was killed. The only person who knows is "the guy that did it," he said.

Steven Brisendine said his brother was born in California, but grew up in Minnesota. He graduated from high school there and later joined the Navy and became an electrician. He attended college in Minnesota and later moved to Alaska. He came to Seattle in 1980.

George Lee, a resident of Brisendine's former Ballard neighborhood, also spoke of Brisendine's key role at the shipyard.

"He ran that place," Lee said. "He supervised the repair of ships and moved them around. He took them to Alaska and California and all over the country."

Brisendine's job included supervising operations at the Wallingford shipyard, where ships are dry-docked and repaired by crews from other shipyards.

The yard also owned several fishing vessels of its own, which were chartered in the off-season by marine scientists and others. Brisendine served as shipboard engineer on many of those voyages.

"He's the go-to guy, anytime, for anything," said John Pennock, Taylor Pennock's brother, who was the best man at Brisendine's wedding and knew him for 20 years. "It's just a sad, sad day."

When he returned from a trip at sea, Brisendine would often bring back generous quantities of shrimp and fish to share with the neighborhood, said Cliff McMullen, who lives across the street from Brisendine's family.

"He was just a great guy. If you needed a hand or something, he was out there working at the boatyard and all . . . so he was pretty handy," McMullen said.

A former Ballard neighbor, Glen Moore, called Brisendine "a fine young man, the salt of the earth. He was the kind of man who would take off his shirt for you." Moore said Brisendine "would never lay down on the job or treat someone unethically."

A Seattle fisherman

(The Seattle Times is withholding names of surviving victims while a suspect in the shooting is still at large.)

A self-employed commercial fisherman and immigrant from Czechoslovakia, this 58-year-old Broadview-area resident has traveled as far as the Bering Sea in his boat "Megan M," fishing for crabs and salmon.

Shot in the chest, he was reportedly in critical condition when he arrived at Harborview Medical Center, but his condition was upgraded to serious last night. His condition remained unchanged this morning.

He regularly sold his crab catch to the Seattle company Icicle Seafoods, said company President Don Giles, who is no relation to victim Peter Giles.

"I've known him for 20 years. He's a good crab fisherman and just a real pleasant guy," Giles said.

According to an employee at Vessel Management Inc., who identified herself only as the man's bookkeeper for 20 years, he returned Monday from Alaska's Dutch Harbor after fishing for crab in the Bering Sea.

The woman said the fisherman and his crew docked at the Northlake Shipyard, possibly for repairs.

"None of us are safe anyplace anymore," she said.

The shipyard receptionist

This 19-year-old man was working as a receptionist at Northlake Shipyard when the gunman walked into the office and opened fire.

The Mountlake Terrace resident was hit once in the right arm and is believed to have given police some of their first information about the incident.

He was reportedly in satisfactory condition at Harborview.

Originally from Irvington, N.J., according to public records, he shares a house with several other roommates. Neighbors believe the group to be college students, and say the young man and his housemates are quiet and seldom seen.

Seattle Times staff reporters Roberto Sanchez, Jack Broom, Patrick Harrington, Jim Brunner, Mark Rahner and Eli Sanders contributed to this report.

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Victims of shooting

Peter Giles, 27, Seattle, died at the scene.

Russell Brisendine, 43, Lynnwood, died at Harborview Medical Center.

A fisherman # , in serious condition.

A shipyard office worker # in satisfactory condition.

# The Seattle Times is withholding names of surviving victims while a shooting suspect is still at large.