Seattle records first homicide of 2025​on January 25, 2025 at 5:54 pm

A 40-year-old man was killed in a Pioneer Square shooting early Saturday, marking Seattle’s first homicide of 2025.

Seattle Police found the man around 1:30 a.m. in a vehicle at a parking lot in the 300 block of 2nd Avenue South, according to a blotter post. The man was pronounced dead at the scene after lifesaving measures failed.

Police were later notified about a 23-year-old woman arriving at Swedish Hospital with a gunshot wound. She’s in stable but serious condition, police said; they believe the two shootings to be related.

The homicide and shooting are under investigation, with no suspects currently identified. Those with information on the Pioneer Square shooting are encouraged to call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at 206-233-5000.

While the Pioneer Square shooting marks the first homicide in Seattle in 2025, it is the fourth homicide investigation in King County this year. Leda Louise Files, 62, was allegedly strangled to death by her son in her Renton home this week, and Michael Edward Harris, 53, was killed by an officer during a traffic stop in Auburn on Jan. 15. On Jan. 10, Alan Jaller-Garcia, 16, was fatally stabbed in the chest near Tukwila’s Foster High School.

King County saw a dip in homicides last year, closing the year with 120 after seeing a record-breaking 143 homicides in 2023. About 61 homicides occurred within Seattle city limits in 2024, compared to 68 in 2023.

In Seattle alone, police responded to 725 shooting scenes last year, down slightly from the 733 and 738 shooting scenes in 2023 and 2022, respectively, according to Seattle Police Department data. 

Last year, Seattle’s first homicide occurred on Jan. 23 in West Seattle, when teenager Mobarak Adam was fatally shot at the Southwest Teen Life Center.

Seattle police went 48 days without responding to a homicide last spring, besting a 35-day streak in winter 2023.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Information from Seattle Times reporters Lauren Girgis and Sara Jean Green is included in this story.