One man was killed and at least two others were injured in a shooting outside a hookah lounge in Seattle's Chinatown International District early Saturday, Seattle police said.
Police found three men with gunshot wounds in the parking lot around 5 a.m. outside of Caravel Hookah Lounge, near Eighth Avenue South and South Lane Street, Detective Eric Muñoz said in a blotter post. One man was lying in the parking lot with gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, while two others were found in a nearby car.
The two men from the car were taken to Harborview Medical Center in serious condition.
Later, a fourth person with gunshot wounds arrived at Valley Medical Center in Renton, and his involvement in the fatal shooting is under investigation," Muñoz wrote.
The ICHS Legacy House assisted living facility across the street from the lounge was struck in the shooting, but no one there was injured, police said. A receptionist on Saturday afternoon confirmed police had visited.
As of Saturday morning, there had been no arrests. A homicide detective was assigned to the case. Those with information were encouraged to call the Seattle police tip line at 206-233-5000.
For nearly two decades, the city has struggled to address gun violence outside lounges and other late-night venues. Indoor smoking lounges — some of which operate illegally without a license — are some of the few businesses in the city that stay open late at night into the early morning.
The Seattle City Council passed legislation last April with hope of curtailing gun violence at the city's unlicensed late-night venues, like hookah lounges. At the time, a dozen people had been killed in the previous 12 years, at or near after-hour clubs, city officials said.
Among the new rules, late-night venues must employ at least two trained security officers on-site, install surveillance cameras at exits and prepare a written safety plan.
Donnie Chin, a longtime community activist, was gunned down in July 2015 near a hookah lounge in the Chinatown International District. Three people were killed and six others injured during a shootout at a hookah lounge on Rainier Avenue South early on a Sunday morning in August 2023. In March, two men were killed during a shooting in the courtyard of the Capri Bar & Restaurant, also known as Capri Hookah Lounge, in Rainier Beach.
And in December 2025, investigators believe a Renton man opened fire on the now-closed Evangadi Hookah Lounge in Seattle’s Little Saigon, killing a 34-year-old man. King County prosecutors filed second-degree murder charges this month.
Just over a year ago, Caravel was the site of another shooting. Five people were injured, police said at the time, in gunfire that was reported around 4 a.m. Police still haven't made an arrest in the 2024 shooting.
"It is too early in today’s investigation to know if either of them are connected," Muñoz said in an email Saturday afternoon.
Tabletop Village, a card game community business around the corner from the hookah lounge, opened about three hours late Saturday because of the active police scene in front of the store, manager Cameron Shenoy said.
The business had to cancel and reschedule multiple events Saturday because of the delay, Shenoy said, including a Pokémon Trading Card Game tournament and a prerelease event for the Gundam Card Game.
Shenoy said the business has been hit before in past incidents of gun violence, but no one has been injured. The store in the last year has enforced a strict midnight curfew for events and tournaments, Shenoy said.
"During the day most things are chill," Shenoy said. "We've still got business as usual, families coming to the business."
In September, Caravel was fined $1,000 by the city for operating without a valid liquor license with extended hours, and failing to submit a written safety plan under that new city ordinance. The lounge was fined $5,000 for a subsequent violation.
The phone number listed for Caravel went directly to voicemail Saturday. Caravel describes itself on an Instagram page as a "member’s only club that operates Monday through Sunday, 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Material from The Seattle Times archives was used in this report.
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