WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Gunfire at 35th/Barton (two Monday updates)

4:37 PM: Thanks for the tip. Police are investigating gunfire at 35th/Barton. No injuries reported. Officers were just clearing the scene as we got here so we don’t yet know exactly where the casings were found but they were driving out of the 7-11 lot. Updates to come.

5:01 PM: Our original tipster tells us, “I was driving west on Barton and they had the eastbound lane blocked at 35th for a block. There were probably half a dozen markers on Barton and in the 7-11 parking lot close to the entrance on Barton.”

5:49 PM: Just checked original dispatch/officer audio. No other details aside from that the car was initially described as a black RAV-4 with tinted windows, and the shooting was done out of a passenger window; the driver then headed east on Barton. There was a later mention of a silver RAV-4 though it wasn’t clear whether that was a second car or not.

ADDED MONDAY: The SPD summary of the incident includes no major additional details beyond, “Suspects drove by a convenience store in the 9200 block of 35th SW and fired at a victim in the parking lot. The shots missed the victim but struck a vehicle parked to fill up their gas tank.”

ADDED MONDAY NIGHT: Since that first update, we’ve obtained the narrative, which includes more details:

-Besides a bullet breaking the aforementioned gas customer’s car window – lodging in the rear driver-side headrest – another one went through the kitchen window of a nearby residence and lodged inside wall plaster

-At the 7-Eleven, “officers located five casings near the entrance … on the north side”

No descriptions of suspects or other circumstances, but here the “suspect vehicle” is described as “possibly a silver Toyota RAV-4.” The store has surveillance cameras but police were told employees didn’t have access to their recordings.

Scared! May 16, 2025 (4:42 pm)

I had just pulled into the 7-11 to grab something when it happened. I ducked down in my car and didn’t see much of anything. I got out of there before the police arrived!!

Admiral Resident May 16, 2025 (4:43 pm)

I was passing through after officers blocked the road off and had placed the markers where casings were found. There were 4-5 markers on the road right as you pull onto Barton out of 7-11. Officers were talking to a group of young men over by the pumps.

Rhonda May 16, 2025 (4:58 pm)

I was at the deli mart across the street buying a sandwich just as SPD was arriving. Most of the customers were there during the shooting. Some said they ran for cover. Several witnesses says there was a scuffle and shots were fired into the air. Several shell casing markers were in the street and SPD had east-bound Barton closed off.

Concerned Citizen May 16, 2025 (9:00 pm)

Yea, I dunno, I don’t think street lights and new sidewalks would’ve prevented this shooting…

anonyme May 17, 2025 (9:23 am)

It seems like West Seattle now has multiple incidents of gunfire on a daily basis. This has gotten insane. I don’t feel safe anywhere, at any time of day.

Kate farley May 17, 2025 (4:17 pm)

I was at the P-patch just behind the 7/11 when I heard 5 to.7 shots fired and saw people scatter and take cover, a young boy came running for his life through the p-patch and toward the safety of his home. Five minutes later an unmarked police car tore east on 35th toward Westwood. Two minutes later it came back, pulled over and shouted to me “where were the Gun shots fired?” 7/11 I shouted back.Later I spoke with the boys mother and she said her boy had just gotten off the C line bus at the 7/11 when the shots were fired.. He ran like hell. God help us