2 killed, 3 wounded in shooting near Seattle homeless camp

Two people were killed and three wounded in a shooting near a homeless encampment in Seattle late on Tuesday, and police were searching for two suspects who fled into a nearby wooded area, authorities said.

The shooting occurred around 7:15 p.m. local time near a large homeless encampment called the Jungle south of downtown, the Seattle Police Department said in a statement.

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Two were confirmed dead and three were hospitalized. The victims suffered gunshot wounds to the chest, abdomen and back, police said.

At a press conference, Assistant Police Chief Robert Merner said the shootings were not random, the Seattle Times reported.

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"We have reason to believe it was very targeted," he said.

Two suspects were being sought, police said.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, who earlier in the evening had been giving a speech on the city's efforts to address homelessness, described the Jungle encampment as "unmanageable and out of control for almost two decades," the newspaper reported.

Murray has previously declared homelessness a "full-blown crisis" in Seattle.

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