State Park Shooting Result of Birthday Party Argument, Say Cops

SEATTLE (CBS/AP) A shooting at a state park near Seattle that left two dead and four wounded stemmed from an argument between two groups, one of which was celebrating a birthday party, investigators said Sunday.

King County Sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart said one man from each group was killed in the shooting Saturday night at Lake Sammamish State Park: a 33-year-old from Kent, Wash., and a 30-year-old from Seattle.

The park is about 20 miles east of downtown Seattle.

One of the dead men was found with a gun on his body, while the other was not found with a weapon, he told The Associated Press.

The violence erupted around 9 p.m. at the edge of the lake between the two groups, who were about 50 to 75 yards apart. Urquhart said investigators are still determining what the groups were arguing about and what caused the dispute to escalate into gunfire.

First, a fistfight broke out and someone from one group apparently fired a gun into the air as a warning. After that, "it sounds to me like everybody pulled out guns," Urquhart told The Seattle Times. He said members of both groups were linked to gangs but investigators still don't know if that played a role in the violence.

Six people were taken into custody, but so far no one has been booked into jail.

The park, a popular gathering place for boating and water sports near the upscale suburbs of Bellevue and Issaquah, was closed Sunday while the investigation continued.

Urquhart said investigators at the scene have recovered four guns and at least 20 spent shell casings.

Swedish Medical Center spokesman Ed Boyle told The Seattle Times that a 29-year-old man with gunshot injuries was treated at the hospital's emergency facility in Issaquah before being transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Urquhart said two other wounded men were also taken to Harborview, while the fourth was taken to Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue. A Harborview spokesman told The Times early Sunday that one man was in serious condition and the other two were in satisfactory condition. The names of the injured were not released.