Woman 'traumatized' by police handling of Columbia City shooting

A woman accuses the Seattle Police Department (SPD) of abandoning her after she was caught in the crossfire of a shooting that left her traumatized.

The shooting that the woman survived happened in Columbia City last Tuesday, at the corner of South Snoqualmie Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way South. She was getting into an Uber when two teenagers started shooting at each other. A bullet was found lodged in her headrest.

Police were searching for the gunman who had just shot a 17-year-old boy in the leg.

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When officers arrived, they found an Uber with two people inside riddled with bullets. The woman told KIRO 7 she waited an hour before a Seattle police officer spoke to them. And even then, she called the conversation perfunctory and indifferent.

“We almost died and they just ordered us to leave,” she said. “Like these bullets went through one side and came out the other side. They went through the whole car. There were bullet holes on both sides.”

Police have defended the officer in charge of the case, saying he questioned her and the Uber driver and then told them they were free to go. They plan to sue the department.

At the time of writing, the gunmen have not yet been arrested.

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“All I heard was two separate gunshots heard simultaneously,” said neighbor Rose Fornier.

Forner and his daughter, Rebecca, heard the gunshots from inside their apartment.

The 17-year-old man was transported to Harborview Medical Center in serious condition.

Two suspects fired shots from a gray Honda and hit the victim's vehicle, police said. Another vehicle was struck by gunfire, causing damage but no injuries.

Contribution: KIRO 7