Man shot dead near St. James Cathedral

A man was fatally shot on Ninth Avenue just around the corner from St. James Cathedral on Friday night, Seattle police reported.

When police arrived on the scene around 9:10 p.m. they found the victim lying in the roadway next to the open driver's seat door of a parked car near the intersection of Ninth Avenue and Columbia Street.

Fire Department medics were unable to save the victim, who died at the scene of a gunshot wound to the torso, said police spokesman Jeff Kappel. The victim's body, covered by a sheet, lay in the roadway as homicide detectives and crime-scene investigators worked.

Police had no description of the shooter, Kappel said, and were trying to confirm the victim's identity.

"It's kind of a mystery right now," Kappel said. "That's all we have: We roll up, the car door open, the victim lying near the car with a gunshot wound."

Police didn't know Friday night what led to the shooting and didn't know if the shooter and the victim had been in the same car together. "We have a lot of work to do," Kappel said.

Keith O'Connor, an employee at the Frederic Ozanam House, a residence for formerly homeless men, said he heard three gunshots. He said it sounded like two guns with different calibers were fired.

"I saw somebody running down the street," O'Connor said.

The assailant apparently fled on foot to the east, according to a police radio dispatch.

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com