Trinh Duong stood by Wednesday evening as her 8-year-old daughter Sydney placed flowers at the base of Seattle Center's International Fountain in remembrance of the three people killed in Sunday's shooting.
Duong is co-owner of Seattle Fudge, located in Seattle Center, and she Sydney were at the business Sunday with the rest of their family, helping people shelter in their shop as shots rang out and people fled.
It makes sense for us to be here," Duong said.
Notes and flowers ringed the International Fountain at Seattle Center Wednesday as more than 100 people came to pay their respects to the dead and at least four people who were wounded.
It was a quieter vigil than the unofficial event held Monday, where Mayor Katie Wilson, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay spoke, community organizers and others spoke. On Wednesday, the calls for healing and justice were replaced with simple wooden lattice signboards where people laid flowers and left notes of condolences.
"We mourn with you, Seattle & all victims of gun violence," read a postcard with a picture of a bald eagle. "You are loved more than you know," read another.
Killed in the shooting were Ashley Whitehead, 56; Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44; and 19-year-old Junior Cee Niko-Semo. Authorities have said Niko-Semo was an “associate” of a 15-year-old boy who was arrested and later charged with first-degree assault.
Seattle police were still searching for at least one other suspected shooter, and have said the shooting could be gang-related.
Near another signboard stood Rob Johnson of the Seattle Center Foundation, who came to pay his respects.
"This is a very special place," said Johnson, executive director for the foundation, which is advocating for a new bond measure to revitalize the 74-acre campus. His hope for the evening was that people could "be in community together and find space to heal."
Richard Wang sat along the edge of the fountain near another signboard. Wang, 40, had just left Bite of Seattle on Sunday and was walking his dog when he heard the sirens in the distance.
"It kind of pops your bubble," Wang said. Now, "every time you hear a siren it's hard not to have that thought cross your mind.
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