Teen shot outside Northgate Mall; police gang unit investigating

A 15-year-old boy was shot twice outside the Northgate Mall Friday night after a brief argument with three men.

The shooting happened about 6:15 p.m. in the mall's southeast parking lot.

Police said the victim and two other teens were walking through the lot carrying packages when they were confronted by a group of men about 19 or 20 years old.

One of the older men fired seven or eight shots, two of which struck the victim in the leg and groin, police said.

The teen was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where his condition was "serious, but I'm told he'll survive," said Reneé Witt, spokeswoman for the Seattle Police Department.

Officers interviewed several people who were in the area Friday night but ruled them all out as suspects, Witt said. There was no new information on the shooting today, she said.

The department's gang unit has taken the lead in the investigation into what police are now calling a gang-related shooting, Witt said.

"It's not random," Witt said of the confrontation between two groups of teens and young men.

Witt said just because the shooting happened in the Northgate Mall parking lot doesn't mean the area is a hot bed for gang activity.

"We can't really pinpoint a particular area. Most of the time, it's just a matter of where these guys happen to show up," Witt said.

Seattle police "are working very hard with other agencies to get a handle on this and put an end to all the gang violence," she said.

Chris Babcock, 53, of Shoreline, was working in the lab of the mall's LensCrafters store when he heard a pop, followed by glass falling.

He said he walked to the front of the store to investigate, thinking a rock had hit the window. Instead, he found a bullet hole right above the front-door frame.

He said he ran outside and saw two teen boys lying on the ground in the parking lot about 100 yards from the sidewalk.

Jeremy Right, 26, who manages the mall's Journeys shoe store and has worked at the mall for three years, said it appeared some of those involved in the shooting were gang members.

"After a while working here, you get to know who these guys are by what they wear," he said.

Katee Grigsby, a 21-year-old student at Shoreline Community College, said she saw a large group of young men, one of them shirtless, running toward the shooting scene just after the shots were fired.

"To be honest, it doesn't really surprise me because of the people who hang out here," she said. "I don't trust a lot of people who hang out here."

Dustin Neeley, 20, who works at Zumiez, a skating and snowboarding shop in the mall, watched as police and mall security encircled the parking lot in yellow police tape shortly after the shooting.

"This doesn't happen in Northgate ... ," he said.

Haley Edwards: 206-464-2745 or hedwards@seattletimes.com