A suspected gang-related shootout at one of Seattle's largest annual food festivals killed three people and wounded four others, including a two-year-old boy, and police say at least one gunman is still at large.

Gunfire erupted around 6 p.m. Sunday at the Bite of Seattle festival, a three-day event held at Seattle Center near the Space Needle that draws roughly 350,000 visitors each year. Within seconds, a scene of families, food vendors, and weekend crowds became a stampede. Three people died. Four others, including the toddler, were rushed to hospitals. All four of the wounded have since been discharged.

By Monday afternoon, Seattle Police Assistant Chief of Investigations Nicole Powell told reporters that investigators believe the shooting was gang-related, with two groups firing at each other inside the crowded festival grounds. A police court filing identified at least three suspected shooters: a 15-year-old who was arrested at the scene, a 19-year-old who died there, and at least one additional unknown suspect who remains unaccounted for.

Four guns fired, only two recovered

The scope of the gunfight appears broader than officials initially disclosed. Shell casing analysis reported by Breitbart indicates four weapons were fired during the incident, yet police recovered only two at the scene. That means at least two firearms, and presumably their owners, remain missing.

Preliminary ballistic testing also showed that the bullets that killed the two bystanders did not come from the 15-year-old's weapon. The gun the teenager fired was an untraceable ghost gun, a firearm without a serial number, assembled from parts and nearly impossible to trace through normal law-enforcement channels.

The 15-year-old waived his initial appearance Monday in Seattle juvenile court. A judge ordered him held in juvenile detention on suspicion of firearms violations and first-degree assault. The King County Prosecutor's Office said it expected to receive the case from Seattle police on Wednesday for a formal charging decision.

As the teenager was escorted past the body of the dead 19-year-old suspect at the scene, a detective noted in a court statement that the boy said, "Love you bro", a detail that underscores the relationship between the two and the nature of what investigators believe was a coordinated gang conflict carried out in broad daylight among thousands of families.

Victims identified: a father of three, a woman who just moved to Washington, and a 19-year-old suspect

The King County Medical Examiner's Office identified the three dead on Monday. Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44, died of a gunshot wound to his torso. A GoFundMe campaign launched for his family described him as a husband and father of three known for his kindness and willingness to help others.

Ashley Whitehead, 56, was struck by a gunshot to her pelvis. She was taken to a hospital and died in surgery. Whitehead had moved to Washington from Alabama roughly a year before the shooting and was at the festival with one of her adult daughters. Her cousin, Michelle Whitehead, told the Associated Press:

"I would consider her just a free spirit. She had the best sense of humor, the best gorgeous smile."

Michelle Whitehead attended a vigil Monday night at Seattle Center, holding a sign that read "Whitehead Strong." Candles and flowers were arranged at the site, and mourners observed a moment of silence.

The third person killed was Junior Cee Niko Semo, 19, who died of multiple gunshot wounds at the scene. Police believe Semo was one of the shooters. The festival shooting is one of several recent mass-casualty incidents at public gatherings across the country, including a deadly shooting at a Toronto street festival that killed two and wounded four.

The four surviving wounded included the two-year-old boy, who was with his mother at the time; men ages 23 and 27; and a 39-year-old woman. One victim had been walking a bicycle when struck. All four were treated and discharged.

Witnesses describe a stampede and strangers sheltering children

Festival vendor Adam Lombardo, who operated a Burmese food stand, described the crowd's reaction as a "stampede." He returned Monday morning under police escort to collect his equipment from the still-active crime scene.

"They just came to enjoy a food festival with people, with friends, with new friends, and they lost their lives in just what sounds like meaningless bloodshed."

Estan Wakonabo, a festival attendee, gave a similar account to the New York Post: "It was just pure chaos. People were hiding, were pushing, people were falling on the ground, baby strollers were falling."

Moises Perez, a 30-year-old construction worker who lives in an apartment next to Seattle Center, spotted people running and screaming outside his window. He opened his door and ushered more than a dozen people, mostly women and children, inside, then locked up and directed them to the bathroom and hallway for cover.

"I was like, 'OK, we need to help these people.'"

Perez told reporters his brother had been killed by gun violence in Mexico years earlier, and that experience drove him to act. About 30 minutes later, he walked outside and found a woman who had been shot in the leg being helped by emergency crews. The pattern of ordinary people caught in crossfire at public events has repeated itself in cities across the country, from a festival shooting in Toledo that wounded 12 to a mass shooting at an Oklahoma gathering that left 23 hurt.

His roommate, William Large, 25, helped secure the apartment and described the terror of the people they sheltered:

"They were definitely in shock. I know that a lot of people were crying, people were screaming, people were just in complete fear."

Officials gave conflicting accounts as hours passed without public updates

The city's public response drew scrutiny. Mayor Katie Wilson initially announced Sunday evening that two people were in custody, a statement she later retracted. Police waited five hours after the shooting before publicly disclosing that one shooter had been arrested and that another was believed to be at large.

At a Monday news conference before the juvenile court hearing, Police Chief Shon Barnes said investigators were not sure whether the second shooter was among the dead. Barnes had been out of town Sunday, attending a conference of Black law enforcement executives in Dallas. Neither Barnes nor the mayor mentioned additional shooters at that briefing.

It was not until Powell's separate Monday afternoon news conference that police revealed at least three shooters were involved and that the incident appeared gang-related. Seattle Police Assistant Chief Tyrone Davis, speaking earlier in the investigation, had acknowledged the uncertainty. Just The News reported his remark: "There may be more. We're still trying to figure this out."

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson deployed the state patrol SWAT team to assist Seattle police, the Washington Examiner reported, a step that signaled the scale of the ongoing threat.

Mayor Wilson later acknowledged the gravity of the situation. Fox News quoted her saying, "No one should have to weigh the risk of being shot before attending an event, gathering with friends, or experiencing their city." She also said of the teenage suspect: "We believe this teenager opened fire in the crowd, but details are still under investigation."

A 15-year-old with a ghost gun, and at least one shooter still free

Dozens of officers were providing security at the Bite of Seattle when the shooting started. At least one officer observed a suspect firing. Police searched an IMAX theater on the festival grounds where they initially believed a second shooter had fled.

Yet despite that security presence, a 15-year-old carried an untraceable ghost gun into a festival that has run since 1982, opened fire in a crowd of families, and, according to ballistic evidence, was not even the shooter whose bullets killed the two innocent bystanders. That means the person or persons who fired the fatal rounds walked away. The involvement of juvenile suspects in mass-casualty shootings has become a grim pattern; in East St. Louis, two teenagers were detained after five family members were killed in a targeted attack.

Police have not identified the specific gangs or groups they believe were involved. They have not said which group fired first. They have not disclosed whether the four wounded bystanders had any connection to either shooting party or were simply in the wrong place. And they have not explained what prompted Mayor Wilson's retracted claim that two suspects were in custody.

The Bite of Seattle draws hundreds of food and retail vendors and performers each year. It is supposed to be the kind of event where a 44-year-old father brings his family, where a 56-year-old woman enjoys a summer evening with her daughter, where a mother walks with her two-year-old son.

Instead, at least one killer is still free, at least two guns are unaccounted for, and a city is left to hold vigils for people whose only mistake was showing up.