Man, 23, fatally shot at Seattle apartments

A 23-year-old man died yesterday after he was shot several times in the chest during an early-morning confrontation at a Mount Baker apartment complex.

About four hours after the shooting, a Seattle police SWAT team found a 22-year-old man hiding in a friend's apartment in the same complex and arrested him on suspicion of firing the shots.

The shooting occurred about 3 a.m. at the Mount Baker Village apartments, in the 2500 block of 29th Avenue South, near Martin Luther King Jr. Park, police said.

Police responding to a 911 call found a wounded man in a parking lot. Police said he was alive when he was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office said yesterday that the man had died, but his identity was not released.

Several witnesses identified the shooting suspect, police said. Police surrounded his apartment and sent tear gas into his room, but he wasn't there. They stormed several other apartments in the complex looking for him.

About 7:30 a.m., he was found in the friend's apartment and arrested without incident. Police said they recovered his gun.

The man's mother said yesterday that the shooting could be related to four gunshots that were fired into her apartment about 10 days ago by a man wearing a ski mask.

Yesterday, she pointed to three small craters in a wall next to her front door and a bullet hole in the front window.

She said she reported the incident to police, but Seattle police investigators yesterday declined to comment on any motive for the fatal shooting.

"All my family doesn't know what this is about," the woman said. "I want to know what happened, too."

The shooting suspect has a lengthy criminal record, mostly auto thefts, driving with a suspended license and fleeing police.

"At home, he's OK," said his mother, holding back tears. "He listens to me, he cooks sometimes, he cleans. But outside, I don't know what he does, where he goes."

Michael Ko: 206-515-5653 or mko@seattletimes.com