SEATTLE — Two 14-year-olds and a 13-year-old were arrested after brandishing fully automatic firearms at a Seafair parade in the Chinatown-International District in Seattle over the weekend.
"It’s unfortunately a sign of the times that when you have large groups collecting like this you may not be consciously thinking about it but in the back of your mind you’re just hoping that nothing happens like this,” said Lee Bowman, who witnessed the incident.
On Sunday night at around 7:31 p.m., patrol officers responded to reports that the three teens were brandishing firearms near 7th Avenue South and South Weller Street near the Chinatown Seafair Parade.
"Nobody knew what was going on, of course, but the first response by any normal human being was to seek safety and then figure it out subsequently,” Bowman said.
When police arrived in the area, they found the teens in the immediate area and detained them. Each of the teens had a handgun. Two of the three were reported stolen and had been modified to be fully automatic, one equipped with an extended magazine.
The teens didn't resist. All three were booked into the juvenile detention center for charges ranging from unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful carry of a pistol and felony harassment.
One teenager will remain in custody Monday after a judge found probable cause to hold him on unlawful possession of a firearm. The other two teens will remain in custody until they are arraigned.
Jimmy Hung, the county's chief deputy prosecutor of the Juvenile Division, says that, unfortunately, findings like this on young people are not new.
"I think you would be shocked at the type of weapons and guns that we see young people getting access to," Hung said. "I think the proliferation of guns and the easy access of guns in our community is pretty shocking."
Detectives with the gun violence reduction unit responded to the scene and are taking the lead on the investigation, according to the Seattle Police Department.