Shooters armed with BBs, pellets

Police in Southwest Seattle have increased their patrols after seven people have been shot at with pellets and BBs over the past two weeks.

"We're going to have to flood that area," said Seattle police Capt. Mike Fann. "It appears to be some kids moving around thinking this is funny. We're afraid this has become a new recreational sport."

Five victims required medical treatment as a result of their injuries, according to police. West Seattle resident Peter McKay spent the night at Harborview Medical Center after a BB penetrated his left lung and another struck his diaphragm.

Fann said it appears that the suspects, described as two young men possibly driving a red Ford Escort or a black Honda or Acura, started their air-gun shooting spree Nov. 1 when McKay was wounded. Police and King County sheriff's deputies think the same pair fired at people in the area Nov. 6, Monday and Tuesday.

King County sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart said patrols will also be increased in sections of unincorporated King County near Burien.

McKay was struck while riding a bike on Delridge Way Southwest, near Southwest Barton Place — just blocks from his house.

On Nov. 6, a 70-year-old man walking near the Burien Community Center was shot in the back with a BB. Doctors removed the BB, Urquhart said.

Around 3 p.m. Monday, sheriff's deputies say, two men, ages 23 and 59, were struck in the Top Hat neighborhood in separate shootings. The younger man was shot in the left leg, and about 15 minutes later the older man was shot in the calf, the sheriff's office said.

The men drove themselves to Highline Medical Center, where doctors left the BBs in their legs, Urquhart said.

Less than an hour after the Top Hat shootings, Seattle police responded to two shootings in South Park. One young man was struck, but not injured, while waiting at a bus stop, according to a police report. A BB hit Matthew Pidgeon, 37, in the right leg while he was walking with his wife only blocks away from the bus stop, police said.

"This is such a random thing in our neighborhood, and it makes me feel very unsafe," said Kristi Hunt, Pidgeon's wife. "I'm really angry. A shooting is a shooting; it doesn't matter if they use a BB gun or a semi-automatic gun."

On Tuesday, a male bicyclist reported he was shot at while riding in South Park. He wasn't hurt, according to a police report.

Police spokesman Mark Jamieson said the department is encouraging people who have seen or heard anything to call 911.

CrimeStoppers of Puget Sound, friends of McKay and local bicyclists have donated $8,500 for information leading to a conviction. The CrimeStoppers number is 206-343-2020.

"This is senseless. It's just plain stupid," said McKay, 46. "Someone could be hit in the vital organs, hit in the eye. Just because it could be a BB doesn't mean it is a toy."

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com