Shooting in downtown Seattle

Holy crap. This happened an hour ago less than 2 miles from my apartment, a block away from where my Mom and sister stayed during their visit.

SEATTLE – At least three people have been shot at the Jewish Federation at 2031 Third Ave. in downtown Seattle. One person has been taken into custody.

Police have taken one person into custody but there may be more suspects in or around the building. Police have their weapons pointed toward the second floor of the building.

...

Rich Pruitt of the Seattle Police Department said" "Right now we have our SWAT team searching the building."

He said the building is being searched room by room and closet by closet for more people.

One shooter is confirmed and in custody, he said. As of yet he said there is no motive. It's not yet known if the incident is politically motivated.

Oh gee, let's pretend like we don't know what this is about.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle says on its Web site that its mission is to "ensure Jewish survival and enhance the quality of Jewish life locally, in Israel and worldwide."

This last Sunday, the Jewish Federation along with 40 other organizations rallied in support of Israel at Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island.

So let me get this straight: the motive is a mystery, yet the inclusion of this information is somehow deemed relevant.

UPDATE: The TV says confirmed 1 dead, 6 injured.

UPDATE 2: They're saying on the TV now that the suspect has a criminal history and is a Pakistani male. But, of course, they have to throw in that there's no indication of what his motive could possibly be. Just another random gunning down.

UPDATE 3: 2 hours in, the suspect has admitted that he's a Muslim angry at Israel. Of course, until he said this, we had no idea what his motive was.

I would have been happy to have been wrong.

UPDATE 4: Here's more detail on this. Turns out it's 1 dead, 5 injured.

WEST RICHLAND, Wash. - The suspect in a fatal shooting rampage at a Jewish charity deeply disappointed his parents because he had dropped out of dentistry school, and had been getting psychiatric help for 10 years...

...

H. was ordered held on $50 million bail Saturday pending formal charges of murder and attempted murder. Prosecutors have until Wednesday to file formal charges.

He is accused of opening fire with two semiautomatic pistols at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle on Friday, killing [a woman], 58, and wounding five other women, one of whom is five months pregnant.

The pregnant lady is the one who surreptitiously called 911.

H., whose parents had moved to the United States from Pakistan in the 1970s, excelled in writing, winning an essay contest as a teenager...

By that logic, I'm an accomplished poet.

This report doesn't mention it, but other reports say he put a gun to a 13 year old girl's head to get in the door. But the class act doesn't end there.

Then in March, H. was arrested at a Benton County stopping mall. Newspaper reports said that he climbed onto a raised coin fountain and exposed himself to young women.

Exposed himself in a coin fountain? This guy is really turning out to be one fine upstanding citizen.

H.'s parents are devastated and struggling to understand how their son strayed from the teachings of Islam...

Oh, that's rich. Yep, it's a complete mystery.