Two people were shot just before midnight Thursday near Southeast 179th Street and 114th Place Southeast in the Fairwood area outside Renton, and despite a drone and K9 search of the neighborhood, King County deputies have not located a suspect. Both victims are described as being in stable condition, with one taken to a trauma hospital in Seattle and the other to a hospital in Renton.
According to FOX 13 Seattle, deputies responded to reports of a shooting near the intersection late Thursday night, finding two injured people at the scene. One victim was transported to Harborview Medical Center, while the other was taken to Valley Medical Center, the outlet reported. No suspects have been taken into custody, and the station notes the case remains under investigation.
The King County Sheriff's Office told the station that deputies canvassed the area with a drone and a K9 unit but were unable to locate anyone connected to the shooting. Per the same account, authorities have not released information about what led to the gunfire or whether the victims were targeted.
Why Fairwood Relies on County Deputies, Not City Police
Fairwood is not an incorporated city — it's a census-designated place in King County with just over 19,000 residents as of the 2020 Census, according to Wikipedia. That means policing is provided by the King County Sheriff's Office, while fire protection and emergency medical services are provided by Fire Districts 40 and 37. This arrangement shapes how any response to violent crime in the neighborhood unfolds.
That arrangement is also why the overnight search leaned on specialized equipment. The sheriff's office maintains a K9 program with 12 deputy-dog teams providing all-night coverage, paired with an expanding fleet of aerial drones used to give deputies real-time situational awareness during active searches, the department has said in past reporting by KOMO News.
Different Hospitals, Different Levels of Care
The two victims ended up at facilities built for very different roles in the region's trauma network. Harborview Medical Center is the only Level I adult and pediatric trauma center serving Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho, handling roughly 6,000 trauma admissions a year and about 45 percent of the state's most severely injured patients, per UW Medicine.
Valley Medical Center, where the second victim was taken, is a 341-bed acute care hospital in Renton operated by Public Hospital District No. 1 of King County. Its Level III Trauma Center treats about 90,000 emergency department patients annually.
A Pattern of Shootings in Unincorporated South King County
This is not the first violent incident the sheriff's office has investigated in the immediate area. A fatal Fairwood shooting in July also ended with a suspect fleeing before deputies arrived, Hoodline previously reported.
Countywide figures for the first quarter of 2026 included 204 shots-fired incidents, 9 fatal shooting homicides and 42 non-fatal shooting victims.
The 2020 Census counted 19,396 residents in Fairwood. Deputies say the shooting remains under investigation, with no suspect description, vehicle information or motive publicly disclosed.
