Gunman kills 5 in Seattle, turns weapon on self, dies

CITYWIDE MANHUNT

Police approach a house in Seattle's University District near a cafe where a gunman shot five people. Four of them died. Soon after the cafe shooting, a woman was shot to death in downtown Seattle.

SEATTLE -- A gunman killed five people in Seattle on Wednesday -- four at a cafe and another in a carjacking -- before he apparently shot himself as officers closed in following a citywide manhunt, authorities said.

The suspect died later Wednesday at Harborview Medical Center, hospital spokesman Susan Gregg said.

Police who began scouring the area for the person who opened fire at the cafe near the University of Washington responded a short time later to another fatal shooting near the city's downtown. They say a man killed a woman in an apparent carjacking and fled in a black sport utility vehicle.

"At this time, we feel pretty confident that we have the suspect," said Assistant Seattle Police Chief Nick Metz late Wednesday.

The Seattle Times identified the suspect as Ian Lee Stawicki, 40, of Seattle, citing unidentified law enforcement sources. Seattle police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said he couldn't confirm the name and said police would not publicly identify the suspect Wednesday night.

Andrew Stawicki, 29, of Ellensburg, Wash., told the Times he recognized a photo shown on TV newscasts of the alleged gunman as his brother Ian. Andrew Stawicki said Ian Stawicki was mentally ill.

The latest spasm of deadly gun violence to hit the city worried Seattle's leaders and prompted police to consider increasing patrols in high-crime areas. The five victims' deaths bring the number of homicides so far this year to 21, matching the total for all of last year.

Gunfire erupted late Wednesday morning at Cafe Racer, a restaurant and music venue north of the University of Washington. The gunman was described as a man, possibly in his 30s, wearing dark clothes.

Two men died at the scene, and a third man and a woman from the cafe died at a hospital.

One man wounded in the cafe shooting remained at Harborview in critical but stable condition following surgery earlier in the day.

A King County medical examiner's spokesman said her office might be able to release the dead victims' identifications today.

In a narrative of the day's violence released Wednesday night, police said it appears the gunman fled to the First Hill neighborhood near downtown, where he fatally shot a woman in a parking lot and stole her SUV. Police believe the gunman drove the SUV to West Seattle and ditched it, leaving a gun in the car. After officers found the vehicle, they flooded that area with uniformed and plainclothes officers.

Late Wednesday afternoon, a plainclothes detective spotted the suspect and called for uniformed officers and a SWAT team, Assistant police Chief Jim Pugel said. As those officers arrived, the man put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger, Chief Pugel said.