SEATTLE — A sailor stationed at Naval Base Kitsap is currently being held on $4 million bail in Seattle, facing charges of second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree assault connected to a shooting in the downtown area.
The suspect, identified in court documents as Victor Darnell Marshall, is accused of shooting three people, killing one of them, seemingly at random at the end of February. Marshall appeared in court on Wednesday, where he entered a not-guilty plea.
Marshall's alleged motive for the shooting remains unclear - he did not know the victims previously and had not interacted with them in any way that night, according to witnesses.
Seattle police officers responded to a report of a shooting at 1st Avenue South and South Washington Street in the early morning hours of Feb. 25, at around 1:42 a.m. First responders found two people at the scene with gunshot wounds, and a third victim, who police learned was injured in the same incident, showed up to Virginia Mason Hospital in a private vehicle, also with a gunshot wound.
The third victim was transferred to Harborview Medical Center due to the seriousness of his injuries, where he was declared dead.
One of the surviving victims told police that she was having an argument with her boyfriend in a Diamond parking lot when another man began shooting at them.
Video collected from the parking lot, a nearby night club and bystanders to the shooting showed the suspect, allegedly Marshall, sitting on the back of a vehicle in the parking lot and opening fire on the three victims.
Police were able to interview a witness who was out with Marshall that night. The witness initially denied knowing the identity of the shooter, but later admitted that he knew it was Marshall and he had seen Marshall with a gun in his hand at the time of the shooting.
When police contacted Marshall at Naval Base Kitsap, where he is assigned to administrative duties in the parking/traffic office, he declined to provide a statement to police. Police photographed distinctive tattoos on Marshall's neck and hands which they said aligned with tattoos seen on the suspect in bystander video.