Two dead, 1 hurt in shooting outside nightclub
 |
|
||||||||||
Two people were killed and one was wounded by a man who went on a shooting spree while leaving a Tacoma nightclub early yesterday.
McCabe's American Music Cafe was packed Thursday night for its regular hip-hop night, said Tacoma police spokesman Jim Mattheis. About 1:30 a.m. yesterday, bouncers began closing the club and pushing people out, and numerous fights arose in the street, he said.
Private Bio Siale, 24, was about half a block from McCabe's just before 2 a.m. when he was shot several times. Siale, an infantryman assigned to the 21st Infantry Regiment at Fort Lewis, was taken to Tacoma General Hospital, where he died at 3:23 a.m., according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office.
Hiram Magalei, 29, of Tacoma began running away from the sound of gunshots when he tripped over a curb. He was lying face down when he was shot several times in the back, Mattheis said. Magalei died at the scene.
A 27-year-old bouncer at McCabe's who was in the area began running back to the club when the shots rang out. He felt a surging feeling in his right leg but didn't realize he had been shot until he got back to the nightclub, Mattheis said. He was in satisfactory condition at Tacoma General Hospital yesterday.
The gunman was described as being a light-skinned black man in his early to mid-20s. He stood about 5 feet 8 and had his hair in cornrows. He was seen leaving the area in an older-model, four-door white sedan, Mattheis said.
Police aren't sure what led to the shootings.
McCabe's has decided to cancel its hip-hop nights because of escalating violence after its doors close, Mattheis said.
Early on Feb. 22, a man was hit in the head with a stick or a piece of wood during a brawl, Mattheis said. He was unconscious when taken to Tacoma General Hospital and remains in a coma.
Police are asking anyone with information about the shootings or the brawl to call Tacoma-Pierce County CrimeStoppers at 253-591-5959.
Gina Kim can be reached at 206- 464-2761 or gkim@seattletimes.com