An SPD K9 team sniffed out a pair of pistols hidden near the scene of a Sunday night shooting at a Rainier Beach gas station.
Officer Corey Fleming and K9 Buddy were training at the Rainier Bach playfield around 10 PM when they heard gunfire several blocks away. Officers Fleming and Buddy, along with numerous other officers, arrived at the Safeway gas station in the 9200 block of Rainier Avenue S., where they found 11 shell casings and two vehicles which had been damaged by gunfire.
Witnesses told police that two gunman had opened fire from the north end of the gas station’s lot, toward a group of people at the gas pumps. The gunmen then fled through the neighborhood, hopping fences and running through yards. It appears no one was injured in the incident.
Officers began searching the neighborhood for the suspects, and K9 buddy sniffed his way to two guns, hidden near Seward Park Avenue S. and Flether Street. Police found one pistol stashed under a fence, and another in a patch of tall grass, which was matted down as if someone had been laying in it.
Police also detained, identified and interviewed two men near the scene, who may have been involved in the shooting. Officers released them pending further investigation by detectives.