Seattle police said they believe that the same man was responsible for two deadly shootings Wednesday in Seattle.
The man shot himself in the head on a West Seattle sidewalk as police closed in.
He is believed by police to have killed three people and wounded two others at Cafe Racer Espresso in the University District earlier Wednesday. A half-hour later, a woman was shot to death near Town Hall in the First Hill neighborhood by a man who fled the scene in a black SUV.
The man was identified by law enforcement sources as Ian Lee Stawicki, 40, of Seattle.
Andrew Stawicki, 29, of Ellensburg, said that when he saw a photo on the news of the alleged gunman inside Cafe Racer he recognized it as his brother.
Stawicki said his brother, Ian, was mentally ill.
“It’s no surprise to me this happened. We could see this coming. Nothing good is going to come with that much anger inside of you,” Andrew Stawicki said.
Ian Stawicki was taken to Harborview Medical Center by ambulance, his condition not immediately known. Many media, including The Seattle Times, initially reported erroneously that he had died.
According to records, Ian Stawicki formerly lived in the 4700 block of Roosevelt Way Northeast. A police SWAT team surrounded the house earlier Wednesday, according to current residents.
Police ordered the residents out of the home and handcuffed them. When they learned Stawicki no longer lived there, they released them.
Assistant Seattle Police Chief Jim Pugel said “we now feel confident in connecting the two” shootings. Earlier, police had said they were not sure if the same man was responsible.
The first shooting happened around 11 a.m. at Cafe Racer Espresso in the 5800 block of Roosevelt Way Northeast.
Two men were confirmed dead at the scene. Two other men and a woman were taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. The woman later died, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
In the shooting near Town Hall, witnesses saw the victim and a man arguing in the parking lot. The man shot the woman at about 11:30 a.m. and fled in a black Mercedes-Benz SUV.
The SUV was later found abandoned, with a black handgun in the front seat.
Police patrol units, detectives, SWAT teams and dogs began scouring the West Seattle area searching for the suspect.
At about 4 p.m., a police officer spotted the suspect on 37th Avenue Southwest — about a mile and a half from where the SUV was abandoned, according to Deputy Police Chief Nick Metz.
The officer called for backup, and as patrol cars closed in, the man put a gun to his head and fired one round, Metz said.
The suspect fell to the ground, and officers provided first aid before an ambulance arrived and took him to Harborview Medical Center, Metz said.
Of the two surviving victims of the Cafe Racer shooting, one was in surgery in critical condition and the other in critical condition in the intensive care unit, said hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg on Wednesday evening.
One of the men who survived was Leonard Meuse, the chef at the cafe. His father, Raymond Meuse, said he was expected to survive.
