A 34-year-old pregnant woman was shot and killed while stopped at an intersection in the Belltown neighbourhood of Seattle on Tuesday morning in what local police believe was a random act of violence.
Eina Kwon’s baby was born alive at an area hospital after the shooting, but reportedly died shortly thereafter. The 37-year-old man who was riding in the car with Ms Kwon was also shot and was taken to a hospital.
A suspect who reportedly matched witness descriptions of the shooter was arrested in the hours following the shooting. According to the probable cause statement in the arrest reported by the Seattle Times, the shooter approached the car while it was stopped and began firing at the driver’s side window before fleeing.
Ms Kwon was shot multiple times. In an interview with KIRO, Ms Kwon’s friend Michael Hoyle called her a “really, really giving person.”
“She had a kid on the way with her family and she leaves behind another little one and... who’s gonna help them?” Mr Holye said.
According to KIRO’s reporting, Ms Kwon and Sung Kwon — believed to be the other person shot in the attack — owned a Japanese restaurant called Aburiya Bento House in the city. There is now a makeshift memorial for Ms Kwon at the restaurant as well as one at the site of the attack.
The man who prosecutors believe is responsible for the shooting is expected to be charged later in the week. He is being held pending charges of homicide, assault, and unlawful possession of a firearm. The man reportedly has no criminal record in King County, but does have one in Chicago’s Cook County.
The shooting has left residents of Belltown, a neighbourhood located just north of Seattle’s downtown, shocked and on edge.
“I’ve never seen something like that before,” Carliss Todd, a security guard working in the area of the shooting, told KIRO. “It was just stunning.”
