Police Arrest Gunman for Seattle Jewish Federation Shooting

Patti Simon was working on the first floor of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle Friday afternoon when suddenly she heard screaming. Simon, who sells advertising at the federation’s newspaper, said that the screaming was followed by shots and what sounded like furniture crashing on the second floor. "We heard this horrible screaming on the floor above us and shots," said Simon, 52. "We didn’t know what was happening." Several witnesses told the AP that they saw a man shoot a woman on the sidewalk outside the building.

According to television station KIRO, at least five women were injured in the shooting and taken to Harborview Medical Center. A fire department spokeswoman said that at least three women were shot and one person suffered a knee injury caused by a gunshot or shattered glass. One of the women who was shot is 17 weeks pregnant, and another is a 43-year old woman who was shot in the abdomen. Three of the injured women required surgery and are listed in critical condition.

Simon called upstairs to her co-workers on the second floor, but there was no answer. She immediately dialed 911 and left the building. When police arrived, they blocked off several city blocks and evacuated about 50 people from the building. Several other people had called in to report the shootings, just after 4:00 p.m. Shortly after that, the gunman himself dialed police to say that he had hostages. Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel said that an officer "was able to talk him out" of the building, where he was confronted by police and gave himself up peacefully.

Officers found a vehicle belonging to the suspect, who is of Pakistani descent. Police do not suspect there were other gunmen involved, but they are investigating whether or not the shooter had any accomplices. Authorities do not believe the man is affiliated with any radical religious group, but Seattle police had issued a bulletin Thursday advising officers to closely monitor synagogues and Jewish organizations because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Simon said that although there is security present in the federation building, someone must have lied their way inside. "People got shot—some of our co-workers," Simon told reporters. "I just got back from Israel and made it out of there a half hour before the rockets started."