A 12-year-old boy was shot and killed in a shooting Thursday evening in Skyway, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office.
The death of Alajawan S. Brown of Skyway was ruled a homicide Friday afternoon by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. He died of a gunshot wound to the torso.
Alajawan was caught in a hail of gunfire involving several individuals in the parking lot of the Cedar Village Apartments, 6230 S. 129th St., at about 6 p.m. just off Martin Luther King Jr. Way. More than 20 shell casings were found.
The Sheriff’s Office isn’t sure yet why Alajawan was in the area. His mother doesn’t know either, according to detectives.
The child doesn’t live at the apartment complex where the shooting occurred; he may have been innocently walking along the street, said Sgt. John Urquhart, a sheriff’s spokesman.
After he was shot, Alajawan ran less than a block to the nearby 7-11 store on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, where he collapsed. Two passersby started CPR before medic units from Fire District 20 and sheriff’s deputies arrived, said David Nelson, a fire district spokesman.
“To learn today that a 12-year-old was killed was a shock to the fire district personnel who responded,” said Nelson.
The investigation has been hampered by a reluctance of witnesses to come forward or to even talk to police, said Urquhart.
The shooting may or may not have been gang-related, Urquhart said.
Urquhart expressed outrage over the shooting.
“This is an apartment complex at 6 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon. There are people everywhere, yet there are 20-plus bullets flying. That’s the outrage.
“The fact that a 12-year-old boy is killed is an outrage.
“The fact that we are having trouble getting information from witnesses is an outrage beyond comparison.”
A man in his mid-20s was wounded in the same incident, said Urquhart. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition; his condition wasn’t immediately available.
Medics from the Tukwila Fire Department and King County Medic 1 also responded to the scene that spread out over two blocks.
Sheriff’s detectives continue to investigate the shooting but have made no arrests.
The apartment complex is in an unincorporated area that eventually could annex to Renton. How to provide police services is one of the city’s concerns.
“The tragic killing of a 12-year-old boy in Skyway is just another case of ongoing violence in this community,” said Mayor Denis Law. “There is a genuine need for a significant commitment of police resources to reduce the ongoing pattern of violence, which is often related to gang activity.”
Finding the resources “to effectively deal with this serious issue is one of the greatest challenges we face in our annexation discussions,” Law said.
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