Yonas Seifu spent Saturday night at the University of Washington performing traditional Ethiopian tribal dances during the school's annual Afro-Caribbean cultural night.

Hours later he was fighting for his life at Harborview Medical Center.

After celebrating the Afro-Caribbean festivities at his alma mater, Seifu went to a house party with fraternity brothers in Lake City.

At about 4:30 a.m. Sunday someone fired a gunshot through a window of the house in the 14300 block of 20th Avenue Northeast. The bullet from a small-caliber handgun went through the window, penetrated a wall and struck Seifu, 26, in the back of the head as he sat on a couch, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said Monday.

"We don't have any leads. We have no idea why (the shooting occurred) and we have no suspects," Kerlikowske said, adding the shooting at the house where six UW students live appears to have been random.

Seifu was in critical condition Monday at Harborview, one of the latest victims of what Kerlikowske called a "rash of gun violence" in the city in recent weeks.

The "unprecedented level" of firearms use is deeply concerning, for both police and the mayor, the chief said at a news conference.

On March 25, Kyle Huff opened fire at a post-rave house party on Capitol Hill, killing six young people and injuring two others before fatally shooting himself. On April 15, two gunmen fired several gunshots inside a packed hallway at Mr. Lucky Lounge & Grill, a Lower Queen Anne nightclub that has been the scene of other violent incidents. Three men were wounded, but as of Monday there had been no arrests.

Then, on April 16, two men were wounded by gunshots after they were chased by men they had fought inside Smiley's Club, a Central Area nightclub.

Early Saturday, 23-year-old Francisco Green died in a gunfight in Pioneer Square. Two other men also were injured in what police are now calling a gang-related shooting, Kerlikowske said.

While the recent spate of shootings is a concern to police, Kerlikowske said it is a unique phenomenon for Seattle, a city that has enjoyed a relatively low crime rate compared with cities of similar size.

Green was the city's 10th homicide victim of the year. Last year, Seattle police investigated 25 homicides, department spokeswoman Debra Brown said.

In 2004, Seattle police investigated 24 slayings, the city's lowest homicide rate in 40 years. A decade earlier, in 1994, police investigated 69 homicides, one of the highest rates in recent years.

Approximately five hours after Seifu was shot in Lake City, Pablo Gonzalez, 53, fired more than 20 rounds from a 9-mm Glock handgun in his North Seattle neighborhood, randomly shooting at his neighbors, cars and houses in the 9700 block of Wallingford Avenue North, police said.

Officer Marshall Harner, who heard the shots from the parking lot of the North Precinct a few blocks away, was the first to arrive, followed shortly after by Sgt. Al Bernstein, Kerlikowske said.

Gonzalez fired at both their patrol cars with "fully jacketed" bullets, which enabled them to penetrate the windshields fairly easily, the chief said. Harner fired a single shot at Gonzalez but missed and was injured by a piece of shrapnel. Moments later, Gonzalez put the gun to his head and killed himself.

Kerlikowske credited the officers' "lightning-speed response" with preventing a possible tragedy.

As for a motive for the shooting, he said Gonzalez, who lived alone, was apparently in the midst of a financial crisis. Officers found a newspaper article about the Capitol Hill shootings inside his house, Kerlikowske said. Gonzalez wasn't being treated for mental illness and police had never been called to his house, the chief said.

Police are asking anyone with information on any of the shootings to call a special tip line: 206-684-5560.

Meanwhile, Seifu's mother and two younger brothers are standing vigil at his bedside, said his friend, Habtamu Bekele.

Seifu, who came to the United States from Ethiopia when he was 11, graduated from Garfield High School in 1998. He spent four summers in high school as an intern at Microsoft, said Trish Millines Dziko, who worked at Microsoft before founding the nonprofit Technology Access Foundation.

"I've known Yonas since he was 14, and he's such a great kid, such a smart kid," she said.

Seifu graduated from the UW in June 2004 with Bachelor of Science degrees in electrical engineering and economics and went on to become a consultant with Accenture, a company that provides management and technology services to area businesses. He also earned his real-estate license, Millines Dziko said.

While at the UW, Seifu co-founded the African Student Association, Bekele said.

Though Seifu could easily afford to live on his own, he still lives in the South Seattle house he bought for his mother while he was in college so that he can be there to help her raise his younger brothers, Bekele said.

Seifu, who plays basketball and soccer, seems to be doing better and doctors are to operate today in hopes of locating the bullet that's lodged in his neck or head.

"He's off the ventilator ... he's gripping his girlfriend's hand and he's reacting to people's voices," Bekele said. "He is fighting it pretty good."

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com

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