Seattle home shooting kills at least seven
Gunman shot himself when challenged, police say
Saturday, March 25, 2006; Posted: 1:48 p.m. EST (18:48 GMT)
A police officer arrives at the scene of the shooting in Seattle, Washington.
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Manage Alerts | What Is This? SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- Six young people were shot to death early Saturday at a home, and the alleged gunman then committed suicide when confronted by police, authorities said.
Three other victims were taken to a hospital after the shootings at a house in the Capitol Hill neighborhood east of downtown, said police spokesman Rich Pruitt. Two of the three were critically injured, he said.
"It's one of the largest crime scenes the city has ever had," said Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske.
He said an officer in the neighborhood heard shots fired at just after 7 a.m. When Officer Steve Leonard arrived on the scene, he found one person staggering out of the house with a gunshot wound.
The officer confronted another man with a shotgun, telling him several times to put the weapon down, Kerlikowske said. The man then turned the gun on himself and fired a fatal shot, he said.
Officers then found other victims inside the home, he said.
Police believe the shooting happened at a party in a rental home and the dead are all in their early 20s, authorities said. They do not believe the gunman lives in the area.
"People in the neighborhood shouldn't be concerned" that the neighborhood of single-family homes was targeted, Kerlikowske said.