It Was Horrible': Witnesses Describe the Chaos That Unfolded at Seattle Festival

The annual Bite of Seattle festival had once again drawn huge crowds to the Seattle Center, but by Sunday evening, the celebration had given way to panic as gunfire sent people running in every direction.

What began as a lively weekend celebration filled with food, music, and thousands of festivalgoers ended in unimaginable tragedy. As investigators continue piecing together what happened, those who were caught in the middle are revealing the terrifying scenes they say they will never forget.

According to Bite of Seattle organizers, the beloved event began in 1982 after local restaurant owner Alan Silverman launched a community food fair to encourage people to dine out during the economic struggles of the Reagan-era recession.

Originally held at Green Lake Park with just 25 restaurants, the inaugural festival drew 75,000 visitors — far surpassing expectations — and has since grown into one of Seattle's biggest annual traditions.

Since moving to Seattle Center in 1986, it has attracted more than 350,000 visitors over three days with hundreds of food vendors, live entertainment, and family-friendly activities, while a portion of every sale supports community programs and emerging local food businesses.

A Festival That Turned Into a Crime Scene

Authorities said the shooting happened shortly after 6 p.m. on the festival's final day as thousands of people remained on the Seattle Center grounds near the iconic Space Needle.

Officials said three people were killed while at least four others, including a 2-year-old child, were injured. Two victims died at the scene, while another later died at a hospital.

Investigators believe two people exchanged gunfire, though authorities said they are still working to determine exactly what led to the violence.

Police Say Investigation Is Still Ongoing

According to Seattle police officials, one suspect — a "young person" — was taken into custody, while investigators continued searching for at least one other person believed to have been involved.

Police said they recovered two guns while also noting that there may have been additional suspects and urged anyone with information to contact investigators.

Officials added that there were no security cameras covering the area where the shooting occurred, making witness accounts especially important as detectives continue their investigation.

The First Moments of Panic as Crowds Fled

As panic spread across the festival grounds, videos shared online showed large crowds suddenly fleeing through vendor aisles after gunshots rang out.

According to CNN, the normally festive atmosphere transformed within moments as people rushed to escape the danger. Other witnesses described similar scenes while speaking to local media.

Faith Adia Hunter told Fox 34 that she and her friends had just picked up food when they realized the shooter was nearby. "We were right next to him when it started, so we took off running. So we took off running too into the building with the crowd."

Vendor Roberto Ramirez recalled initially mistaking the sounds for fireworks before hearing people scream, "Suddenly everything was empty. People were freaked out."

Estan Wakonabo said he watched terrified festivalgoers shove past one another as they fled. "People were hiding, were pushing, people were falling on the ground, baby strollers were falling." He added:

"Once I heard a 'pop, pop, pop,' that's when I knew it was a shooter."

'Where Do We Go?': Witnesses Recall the Moments That Followed the Gunfire

As investigators continued examining the scene, other eyewitnesses shared even more emotional descriptions of what unfolded during the terrifying moments after the shooting began. One witness told BBC News that the overwhelming number of injured people made it difficult to process what they were seeing.

"I don't — I just couldn't tell you. There were so many people there I seen [sic] on the ground. It was horrible. It's hard to tell anything. I was just asking people if they were okay."

"Everything was just so chaotic. Once they told us to go back in, we started running because, you know, seeing that and it was just like 'where do we go? Where do we go?'"

Another witness described the frightening sounds that convinced them they were hearing gunfire rather than fireworks. "It was like 'brrap,' and then it was like bop bop bop bop. So, I don't know weapons, but I guess it was like probably a semi-automatic, and then it was probably pistols after that."

"We were walking this way, about a quarter mile over there, and we were probably 20 ft from wherever the shots were. We first thought they were fireworks, and then everybody flooded and ran past us," the second witness added.

A third witness recalled desperately trying to navigate through the chaos while searching for a familiar landmark:

"We ran through the garden, and we ducked, and we [then] decided running with the crowd [...] I looked up for the Space Needle to try and keep track of where we were. It was really scary. It was just — it's the first mass shooting anything I've ever been involved in."