Seattle gunman shoots 5, self

PanARMENIAN.Net - A gunman killed four people at a popular Seattle cafe on Wednesday, May 30 then fled to a downtown parking lot where he killed a fifth person and stole her car before shooting himself in the head as police closed in, authorities said, according to Reuters.

The suspect, identified as Ian Lee Stawicki, 40, and described as mentally disturbed, died at a hospital hours after the late-morning slayings, which police initially treated as two separate incidents.

The father of the sole surviving victim, the cafe's chef, told Reuters that police detectives had said the gunman was known to have had "psychiatric problems" and caused a disturbance at the coffee house a few days earlier.

The burst of gun violence prompted a security alert and lockdown at several Seattle schools and city-run community centers. Residents were advised to stay behind closed doors as police searched for the suspect.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn told a news conference that the two slayings, following a recent rash of other shootings, had shaken the city. He urged municipal leaders to "bring an end to this gun violence that the city is seeing."

Authorities had no immediate explanation for the bloodshed, which they said began when the gunman opened fire at the Cafe Racer, a coffee house in Seattle's Ravenna neighborhood known for its live music.

Two men were killed outright, and three other people struck by gunfire were taken to Harborview Medical Center, where two of them - a man and a woman - later died of their wounds.

The suspect fled the cafe on foot and made his way a short time later to downtown Seattle, where he shot another woman dead and drove away with her sport utility vehicle, police said.

Police later found an SUV matching the description of the getaway vehicle, with a handgun visible inside, in a West Seattle neighborhood.

The suspect had left the car, but officers who confronted him later saw him kneel down and shoot himself in the head, police said.