Four shot, four knifed over the weekend

Stray bullets hit two partygoers in the University District early Sunday in one of four violent incidents across Seattle over the weekend.

At least four people were shot and another four stabbed in four separate and apparently unrelated crimes.

No one was killed in the spate of violence.

Just before 1 a.m. Sunday, a 22-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were shot when they stepped outside of a party in the heart of the University of Washington's Greek Row to smoke a cigarette in an alley.

"They basically were just standing here and were all of a sudden like, 'I'm bleeding,' " said Allison Masarin, a friend of the victims' who also was at the home where the party was held. Masarin did not witness the shooting. "I don't know if there was some sort of like fight going on that they just accidentally walked right into and didn't see."

Police spokesman Jeff Kappel said there were at least two shooters who were possibly exchanging gunfire in the alley. Police recovered about 12 shell casings and had arrested one suspect. Other suspects, described as males in their 20s, were still at large.

"They were innocent bystanders," Kappel said of the victims.

The victims, who were not named by police or their friends, were transported to Harborview Medical Center. The man was shot in the groin. The woman was shot in the neck. Their conditions were not immediately known.

Masarin, who had visited her friends in the hospital, said Sunday afternoon that both were doing fine.

"They both just got amazingly lucky," she said.

About a half-hour later, two people were shot outside Tiki Bob's Cantina in the 100 block of South King Street in Pioneer Square in what Kappel described as a possible drive-by shooting. He said the suspects may have been in a gray, late-1990s model Mercedes Benz.

Another person was stabbed at about 2:23 a.m. Sunday in the 2700 block of East Union Street.

The weekend's violence began early Saturday when three people were stabbed in the 1200 block of Westlake Avenue North at about 2 a.m.

Kappel had no additional information about the suspects or victims in these three incidents.

The U District shooting underscored a growing problem with uninvited guests at parties and increasing violence in the residential area north of the campus.

"Stuff happens like this," said Kristopher North, 21, a UW senior who was driving down the alley moments before shots were fired Sunday. "Kids get kicked out of a party or they say something to the wrong people and before you know it people are shooting at them. ... Quite often you get a lot of people that come from the Ave or come from other parts of Seattle and come in here."

Another man, who didn't want his name published because he didn't want his fraternity's name associated with the crime said there have been more fights and break-ins in recent weeks.

"I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but it's just we've had a lot of sketchy people lately," said the man, a UW junior and house manager at a fraternity near where the shots were fired. "It's been worse this year."

Ralph Robinson, the University of Washington Police Department's assistant chief for field operations, said the Seattle Police Department's Gang Unit responded to the shooting. He said his department believes that neither the victims nor the suspects are current UW students, but he emphasized that Seattle police are leading the investigation.

Clashes between UW students and party crashers have emerged as a problem in the past two years, he said.

"This year it seems to be more violent, more pronounced," Robinson said. "I think what really attracts outsiders into the area is girls and parties."

When they try to enter the parties, often hosted by fraternities, they meet resistance and fights break out, he said.

Robinson said serious violence in the U District, such as shootings, has typically occurred West of 15th Avenue Northeast.

The mixture of nighttime activities, alcohol and mischief associated with Halloween often leads to an increase in crimes, he said.

University police are planning additional staffing and more-frequent patrols for Halloween night, he said.

Benjamin J. Romano: 206-464-2149 or bromano@seattletimes.com