A 15-year-old boy accused of firing a handgun into the crowd at this year's Bite of Seattle festival has been released from juvenile detention and will serve home arrest at his father's house under round-the-clock adult supervision. King County Superior Court Judge Veronica Galván ordered the release following a hearing, finding there was what she called a colorable claim of self-defense in a case where ballistic evidence still has not tied the teen's gun to the two bystanders killed.
Judge Cites New Evidence in Release Order
According to KOMO News, Galván ordered that the teen will be released from detention into home arrest, where he must be supervised by an adult 24 hours a day, participate in mental health treatment, and comply with all conditions set by the court. A virtual review hearing is scheduled for Nov. 10 at 9 a.m., provided he remains in compliance. Per the Seattle Times, the judge ordered that the boy could be released on electronic home monitoring to live with his father and stepmother, and he must have no contact with anyone injured in the shooting.
The hearing took place at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center in Seattle, per the same Seattle Times account. The teen was arrested at the scene by Seattle police following the July 26 shooting at the festival at Seattle Center, and he was formally charged on July 29 with first-degree assault with a firearm enhancement and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, according to KUOW. The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has also sought to have him tried in adult court, KUOW reported.
Shootout Left Deaths, Injuries, and Conflicting Counts
Reports on the toll from the July 26 shooting have varied. KOMO News reported that three people died and four others, including a 2-year-old child, were injured, while KUOW's reporting described three dead and five others injured, including a 2-year-old, noting that it remains unclear who fired which shots in the chaotic shootout. The teen's gun has been identified as a Polymer 80 9mm ghost gun fitted with an extended magazine capable of holding 33 rounds, per KOMO News.
Investigators have not found ballistic evidence connecting the teen's gun to the two bystanders who died, the Seattle Times reported. Prosecutors maintain that he fired at least three times into the crowd, according to KOMO News, while his attorneys argue no ballistic evidence connects him to any of the deaths or injuries from the shooting.
Fresh Bullet Fragments Sent for Testing
New bullet fragments were recovered from Seattle Center and submitted for DNA and ballistics analysis within the past week, according to the Seattle Times, which attributed the update to Logan Bryant. Separately, MyNorthwest has reported that a bullet pulled from the body of one of the four surviving victims was not from the teenager's gun, and that his gun was also not a match for the three people who were killed. Prosecutors have said there is still a grey area on whether the suspect actually shot anyone at the festival, per that same report.
The case now heads toward its next checkpoint with the teen's fate still unresolved on multiple fronts — whether he will ultimately face trial as a juvenile or an adult, and whether forensic testing on the newly recovered fragments will clarify who fired the shots that killed three people and wounded others at one of Seattle's best-known summer festivals. For now, the court's focus is on the terms of his release: home arrest, constant adult supervision, mental health treatment, and no contact with the injured, with compliance to be checked again at the Nov. 10 hearing.
