Mass shooting reported at Seattle Center

Paul Roberts, Margo Vansynghel, David Gutman and Alexis Weisend, The Seattle Times on Jul 26, 2026

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Police and aid crews responded to a shooting with “multiple” victims Sunday evening at Seattle Center, according to authorities.

A barrage of gunshots could be heard around 6 p.m. at Seattle Center, which was hosting thousands of people for the Bite of Seattle food festival this weekend.

A Seattle Times reporter who was on the south side of Climate Pledge Arena heard several loud pops and then what sounded like very rapid gunfire.

Estan Wakonabo, 25, said he was at Bite of Seattle with his girlfriend when he heard gunshots. The event was so packed to begin with that they could barely move between the crowded lines for food. He said people began to trample each other as he and his girlfriend stayed put.

“It was just pure chaos,” he said.

He said he came back to the scene later to take photos, and saw several gunshot victims on the ground, including a body covered with a yellow sheet.

A Seattle police department spokesperson, reached by phone, said he was on his way to the incident and had no further information.

Kayla Carris, 22, was sitting outside the Seattle Center Armory at the Bite of Seattle when people began to scream and run to get inside the armory.

“Everyone was just throwing stuff and running,” Carris said. “Like everyone.”

Paul Skinner, 47, had just returned from grabbing drinks for his staff at his Filipino food booth, when he heard a series of pops.

“I just heard what sounded like what were some pretty loud fireworks at first,” he said. “Then, the energy changed. Mobs of people started flooding back down. I just told our staff to get down.”

A video posted to social media appeared to show the moment gunshots first rang out.

“Shooting! Shooting!” a man says.

“Get down, get down, get down,” another yells, as crowds start to run.

Todd Behrends, 59, said he heard what sounded like several rounds of shots.

People began running and jumping over each other to get away. One woman fell, and someone stepped on her leg, he said. As he also ran toward an exit, he saw a woman on the ground and a man in a stretcher.

It was unclear if police had anybody in custody as of 7 p.m., or exactly how many people had been wounded.

“Please avoid the area,” police said on X.

Abdul Mohammed said he was watching The Odyssey at the Pacific Science Center IMAX theater when the movie stopped abruptly. Viewers were told to put their hands up and slowly walk out of the theater, he said, and 10 or 15 police officers, weapons drawn, walked into the theater.

A spokesperson for the theater said they were having people exit and it would be closing for the rest of the day.

A spokesperson for Harborview Medical Center, the highest-level trauma care center in the region, said they would be receiving patients from the incident.

Bite of Seattle — which has taken place at Seattle Center for decades — is one of the campus’ busiest annual events. Last year’s festival drew 282,000 people, according to Seattle Center’s impact report. The event featured hundreds of food and retail vendors as well as live music.

The Seattle Monorail, which has an endpoint in Seattle Center, reported it would be closed for the rest of Sunday.