KENT, Wash. — Right now Kent police are searching for the person who repeatedly shot a woman at a motel parking lot early Tuesday morning.
The Kent Valley Motel was the focus of the investigation. When KIRO 7′s cameras arrived there, the entire parking lot was sealed off with police tape. Detectives were collecting evidence, but their main area of focus was a room on the second floor of the motel where a window screen appeared to have fallen off.
“I stay here quite a bit now, I probably won’t stay here now! It’s kinda harsh, but it’s happening all over though,” said a motel guest who spoke to KIRO 7 but only went by Eli.
He woke up shortly after a car riddled with bullet holes was towed from the motel parking lot. According to Kent Police, around 1:20 a.m., police swarmed the motel after 911 calls came in about a shooting. The motel sits about a block or two away from Kent station, what many people consider to be a very busy area of Kent, even in the early morning hours.
In a Tweet on X and a Facebook post, Kent Police said a 26-year-old woman was shot multiple times. Police also said the victim may have known the suspect, who took off after the shooting.
For Eli, shootings in the area around the motel are not a huge surprise, but a shooting at the motel itself is.
“Yeah, I really am (surprised) -- this is a nice quiet stay,” he said.
He lamented that shootings have become common to the point that he doesn’t venture into certain areas of Kent.
“Everywhere in Kent, I don’t even go on top of the hill no more, too much drugs too much stuff.”
Kent police say Puget Sound Fire treated the victim who was taken to a hospital. They are now searching for the suspect, and anyone with information about the crime is urged to call Kent Police.