South Seattle shooting victims’ families remember the precious lives that were lost

SEATTLE — Two survivors of a mass shooting in South Seattle have been released from the hospital. The families of the victims said their final goodbyes.

The victims who didn’t make it out alive Sunday morning are Nadia Kassa, Jonathan Bishu, and Trevis Bellard.

We spoke on the phone with the mother of Trevis Bellard. She said her only son was a free spirit, an artist, a painter, who wanted to travel the world. And that’s why he worked for American Airlines.

The parents of 32-year-old Bellard said he was just visiting Seattle and was planning to leave on Sept. 1 to return to his childhood Texas home.

Instead, the unthinkable happened, he was shot and killed inside a hookah lounge along with two others.

“Her smile was contagious,” said Fedilla Kassa, Nadia Kassa’s younger sister. “Her energy was so contagious. Being around her was like a breath of fresh air.”

Thirty-year-old Kassa was shot and killed, too. Her six surviving sisters are remembering her as a determined woman who cared for everyone she met.

“Nobody could peer pressure her into being somebody else,” said Fedilla. “She was like a force of nature. Like anything she wanted to do, she would do. She knew who she was and she was confident about it. And there was nobody who could tell her otherwise.”

Kassa was among a crowd of people in the Rainier Hookah Lounge at about 4:20 a.m. Sunday when a dispute turned violent. The King County Medical Examiner said she was shot in the head. She died later at Harborview Medical Center.

Twenty-two-year-old Jonathan Bishu and Trevis Bellard died where they lay. Six other victims were taken to Harborview, a 23-year-old man in critical condition.

A traditional prayer service was held for Nadia Kassa. Her burial was held a couple of hours later.

News of her death, said her family, has spread across the country, given her activism in the Tigray community, which is locked in a nearly three-year civil war with the Ethiopian government.

“Folks are flying in to mourn her,” said Shemshia Kassa, her older sister. “She was loved by everyone in our community. So this is felt across the nation right now.”

They tell us they lost their father to COVID two years ago. Now this.

Trevis Bellard leaves behind his parents and a sister. His mother said his funeral will be Monday morning in Arlington Texas.

Seattle Police said so far, no one has been arrested for these murders.

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