Seattle's streets were disrupted by sudden gunfire in West Seattle early Wednesday as police scrambled to investigate back-to-back drive-by shootings that left one man wounded and a city on alert. According to the Seattle Police Department’s blotter, the incidents occurred minutes apart, and detectives are now able to swiftly piece together the crimes that struck in the dead of night.

The first bout of violence rang out at 12:38 a.m. when officers were called to the scene at Beach Drive Southwest and Southwest Andover Street. They arrived to find a 27-year-old man who had miraculously emerged without a scratch after his vehicle was fired upon in what appeared to be a targeted attack. The suspects had been following and menacing him with their guns before unleashing a barrage of bullets as he tried to escape their pursuit. Despite a thorough scouring of the area, the assailants slipped away, unseen into the night, leaving behind only the whisper of shell casings for police to collect as evidence.

A mere two minutes later, at approximately 12:40 a.m., a second episode unfolded nearby on the 1100 block of Harbor Avenue Southwest. There, responding officers discovered a 42-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his foot. After receiving first aid from the officers, he was treated by medics and made his way to the hospital, stable but shaken. Reports described a hazardous scene in which the victim's car was pursued and blocked by the shooter's vehicle ahead of the attack. Shell casings littered the ground, but once again, the suspects had vanished before law enforcement arrived.

The Seattle Police Department's Gun Violence Reduction Unit has taken the helm of the investigation, seeking to unravel the motive and identify those responsible for the shootings. As this story develops, residents are urged to report any information they may have relating to these incidents.