Seattle neighborhood shaken after gunfire riddles home, car in school zone

SEATTLE — A northeast Seattle mother is holding her children tight Sunday after her car and home were attacked with rampant gunfire late Saturday night.

She told KING 5 she has no idea who would riddle her car with bullets — or why — but she and her neighbors are pleading with the city for help.

“It was terrible,” said Jeff Christophersen, a longtime Seattle resident. “I mean, it was terrifying. Like, hearing the gunshots from my window. One of the bullets exited the other side of the SUV and went through these folks’ front kitchen window, and you could see the broken glass there.”

Christophersen lives a couple hundred feet away from the car and home that were hit by gunfire. The homeowner, a mother of multiple children, did not feel like being interviewed on camera. The children were asleep inside the home at the time of the shooting.

They live in the area near Northeast 75th Street and 45th Avenue Northeast is just steps from View Ridge Playfield Park and View Ridge Elementary School.

“There’s clearly seven bullet holes here,” said Christophersen, pointing to the damage on the silver SUV. “There was one slug that was resting here, on the board of the car. And then the shell casings were literally all here in the street.”

The homeowner said she saw a sedan speed off in the moments after the gunshots but did not get a good look at any faces.

“We’re in a school zone,” Christophersen said. “Like, this is just lawlessness.”

The Seattle Police Department has not returned KING 5’s request for comment.

Meantime, for Christophersen, this may just be his final straw.

“I don’t want to live in a place where this kind of thing is tolerated,” Christophersen said. “She was burglarized on Christmas Eve.”

Christophersen pointed to another home across the street, and said, “These folks told us they got broken into, two to three months ago.”

Seattle Police Department data showed property and violent crimes have been on the rise in northeast Seattle recently. In November 2024, police received 130 reports of combined property and violent crimes in the Sand Point and View Ridge areas. That’s up from just 95 at the beginning of the year.

As KING 5 reported, last month 56 small business owners in View Ridge, Wedgwood, Bryant, Laurelhurst, and Sand Point wrote and signed a letter to Mayor Bruce Harrell, begging for more patrol officers.

Christophersen echoed that sentiment.

“We could definitely use more of them on the streets and in the neighborhoods,” Christophersen said.

The council member for his district, Maritza Rivera, ran on the platform of public safety.

“I voted for her,” Christophersen said. “Would love to keep supporting her. But we’re her constituents, right? We don’t wanna be left out here.”

In a statement Monday, Rivera called the incident “of real concern” and said that her office has been in contact with the constituent and reached out to Seattle police for more information. Rivera said she has helped pass 11 pieces of public safety legislation in the last year and will continue to support legislation to help the Seattle Police Department be fully staffed.

“I will continue to respond as quickly as I can, stay in constant communication with SPD and bring attention to these public safety issues in the North End,” Rivera said.

The mayor’s office has not returned KING 5’s request for comment.