Documents say fight led to deadly shooting on Seattle light rail train

SEATTLE — KIRO 7 News discovered new details in the deadly shooting that happened on a Link light rail train in Seattle — the first shooting on a train in Sound Transit history.

COURT DOCUMENTS:

KIRO 7 News looked through court documents that shed more light on the case.

In the report, detectives identified the suspect as 21-year-old Jamari Bland.

Police said they received a call about a shooting on a light rail train, that was traveling from the Chinatown-International District station to the University Street station, on Feb. 25 at about 11:31 p.m.

Investigators said Damitrious Cranshaw, 26, and Bland, both entered the train at different stops 15 minutes apart.

Both sat in the back section of the train, about two rows apart.

Video captured both interacting on the train, police said.

Detectives said Cranshaw walked toward the door and Bland put his foot out in the aisle and tripped him.

Cranshaw turned around to find Bland standing up with his fists up in front of him, police said.

Surveillance video captured the two fighting on the ground as half a dozen of passengers watched, detectives wrote.

The court document said that the suspect placed his hand on the back of the victim, and Cranshaw instantly stopped fighting and fell to the floor.

Bland picked up a cell phone, detectives said, but placed it back on the floor.

He is seen pulling the emergency exit handle and running out of the train tunnel, near Third Avenue and James Street, police said.

The victim was found on the floor of train #146A, officials wrote.

During the investigation, investigators said Noah Lerner, Bland’s public defender, called them.

Lerner wanted his client to stay silent and not be interviewed, police said, and requested to facilitate a surrender if police had a probable cause for an arrest.

Prior to the call, detectives said Bland had not been identified as a suspect in the investigation.

Police looked into Bland following the conversation.

Authorities found Bland’s driver’s license photo matched a photo a witness had taken of Bland during the shooting.

Detectives said they also found a photo of Bland on his mother’s Facebook page, where Bland was wearing similar clothing seen in the witness’s picture.

Surveillance cameras on the light rail train and at the station captured different parts of the incident.

Officials said Cranshaw died from a single gunshot wound.

Detectives said they found fingerprints at the crime scene that connected Bland to the shooting death.

COURT HEARING:

KIRO 7 News drove to the King County Correctional Facility for Bland’s court hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Bland did not appear in court, but a judge set his bail at $2 million.

A prosecutor for King County, Chris Anderson, described what he saw on a surveillance video that had captured parts of the fight and shooting.

“Mr. Bland tries to trip him, and when Mr. Cranshaw turns around, Mr. Bland is already on his feet with his fists up in front of him, and starts throwing punches at Mr. Cranshaw. The fight ensues in front of half a dozen passengers on the floor of the light rail where Mr. Bland is essentially on top of Mr. Cranshaw. At some point, Mr. Cranshaw was able to get to his feet, pins Mr. Bland up against the light rail doors, and Mr. Bland pulls out a gun out of his pocket and places it on top of Mr. Cranshaw’s head, pulls the trigger, leaves him for dead, takes the emergency exit of the light rail,” he said.

The victim’s family did not speak at the hearing, however, a woman spoke on their behalf by sharing the victim’s mother’s statement.

“Honorable judge, the actions of Jamari have greatly affected me and his sisters and brother, since he committed this crime. I have been unable to sleep at night. I’m scared someone will break into my home and hurt me and my children. My children are having nightmares, and (are) scared what will happen to them. They are afraid to go outside and play or go to school in fear of retaliation of Jamari hurting them. My children are afraid to go anywhere without me by their side. My faith in others has been shattered. I don’t trust people like I used to. Jamari’s crime has also had a deep financial impact on our family. I have been unable to work due to his actions, and I don’t have any sick or vacation time to cover my absence. Prior to this incident, I had not missed any day of work. Nobody should be able to take someone’s life and get away with it. The emotional and the financial impact he has caused will be felt for the rest of my life,” Cindy Sandino, who described herself as a victim advocate with the City of Seattle in partnership with the Seattle Police Department, said when she read the victim’s mother’s statement.

The suspect’s aunt also shared her thoughts with the judge.

“Expressing my deepest regrets to the family, to the mother who lost her son,” said Stephanie Norman. “Jamari is not a threat to society. Jamari has no other violent crimes in his history because he wasn’t raised that way.”

SOUND TRANSIT:

KIRO 7 News also spoke with Sound Transit to learn more about its safety measures following the shooting death.

“The safety of our passengers and our staff are our top priority at Sound Transit. Any violent incident really is a cause for deep concern for us,” said John Gallagher, media relations manager for Sound Transit. “We’ve taken a number of steps over the past year to significantly increase our security presence.”

Since June of 2023, Gallagher said Sound Transit has recorded 256 assaults on or near its light rail trains and stations.

He said the organization has more than doubled the number of its security personnel since 2022, with a current total of 480 security workers available.

“They’re (passengers) going to see an increased presence in our stations and our trains because we want them to know we take their concerns seriously. We want them to feel safe,” said Gallagher.

Despite the recent string of crimes, Gallagher said the light rail system is still safe.

“During that period (since June of 2023), we had well more than 2 million riders a month. So, we’re talking about 15, 16 million riders during that period. So overall, the system remains very safe,” he shared.

He said the violence is part of a bigger issue that affects many communities across the Puget Sound.

“Unfortunately, the problems that take place in the city and urban environment, including gun violence, happen to find their way into the train system as well,” he said.

©2024 Cox Media Group