3 teens arrested in deadly shooting at Seattle homeless camp

Dean Rutz/AP Seattle police have arrested three teenagers in connection to a shooting at a homeless encampment in a wooded area called The Jungle last week.

Police have previously said they believe the shootings were “targeted” and prompted by a low-level drug dispute.

The two people killed in the incident have been identified as 45-year-old Jeannine L. Zapata and 33-year-old James Q. Tran.

The 13-, 16- and 17-year-olds were arrested at a homeless camp beneath Interstate 90 and were being interviewed in connection to the deaths, Seattle police Chief Kathleen O’Toole said. He said the intended target of the gunmen, a homeless man he identified as “Fats”, was among those wounded.

On Tuesday morning, at the homeless encampment where the three suspects were arrested, several people expressed surprise that police were connecting the boys to the shooting.

Because of their ages, the two older suspects will likely have their cases automatically transferred to adult, or felony, court. Lawyers representing the other two waived the teens’ court appearances.

Officers discovered five victims – three men and two women – suffering from gunshot wounds, police said. One teen also reportedly told a witness that he took heroin and cash. The other woman wanted to keep her condition private, Gregg said.

The shooting took place as Mayor Ed Murray delivered a speech about the city’s homelessness crisis and two months after he declared homelessness a city emergency. Her condition last week was listed as satisfactory.

Tents sit under an overpass in view of sports stadiums behind as an Amtrak train passes near where police arrested three teenage boys the day before in connection with a January shooting at a Seattle homeless encampment that…

City officials are continuing their assessment of the Jungle to determine what should be done there, O’Toole said.

Garbage and belongings are scattered about “The Jungle”, a homeless encampment under Highway 5 in Sodo, on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.