SEATTLE — Police in Federal Way are urging residents to avoid going out late at night, especially in secluded areas, after a man jogging with his dog was killed in the city’s third fatal shooting in two days.
The attack late Tuesday had no obvious link to the other homicides, but its apparently random nature had residents and officers on edge.
“What’s a little alarming, when we look at each of the victims, up to this point we find no connection,” Police Chief Andy Hwang said at a news conference Wednesday.
Federal Way, a city of about 90,000 people between Seattle and Tacoma, typically has just a few homicides a year. Three in less than 48 hours is unprecedented, he said.
The department has boosted uniformed patrols in response and urged people to avoid going out late at night, to report any suspicious activity and to otherwise take extra security precautions.
Investigators have no description of the assailant or assailants in any of the killings, Hwang said. He asked residents to come forward with any information that might help solve the crimes.
“These crimes are occurring late night, very early morning, and the perpetrators are moving about in the dark,” he said.
The first killing came at about 1 a.m. Monday, when a 26-year-old Seattle man was killed on the porch of a Federal Way apartment. The next came nearly 24 hours later, when a 27-year-old Tacoma man was shot in a parked car. The third came at 11:12 p.m. Tuesday, when the jogger was shot multiple times, Hwang said.
In the first and third killings, there was no evidence the victims were involved in illegal activity. But the second killing might have been related to a drug deal, Hwang said.
The victims’ identities were not immediately released.
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