2 dead, 3 wounded in shooting at Seattle homeless camp

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is struggle to fight the city homelessness problem

(Image credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

last updated 27 January 2016

At 7:20 p.m. on Tuesday, police in Seattle responded to a report of gunshots at a homeless encampment south of downtown. After searching the wooded camp. called "The Jungle," police found five victims. One woman died at the scene and a man died later at the hospital, police said. The other three victims, age 25 to 45, had gunshot wounds in their chests, backs, and abdomens. Police haven't arrested anybody yet, but they are searching for two men. "We have reason to believe it was very targeted," Assistant Police Chief Robert Merner said of the shooting, thought to have arisen from a dispute between acquaintances.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray (pictured), who had been preparing to give a televised speech on homelessness Tuesday night, instead addressed the shooting, asking, "I can't help but wonder 'Did I act too late?'" Murray had declared a state of emergency for the city's homeless problem in November, and on Tuesday night he said that Seattle is "involved in a homelessness crisis the like that we have not seen since the Great Depression. There is no simple answer." The Jungle, he added, has been "unmanageable and out of control for almost two decades."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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