A shootout between two suspects at one of Seattle's largest summer festivals left three people dead and four wounded, including a two-year-old boy, as thousands of attendees fled in panic.

Gunfire erupted around 6 p.m. local time Sunday evening at Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle food festival, a sprawling annual event held in the shadow of the Space Needle. Police believe at least two people were shooting at each other in the middle of the packed crowd. Two men, ages 19 and 44, died at the scene. A 56-year-old woman was rushed to Harborview Medical Center with serious injuries and died there.

Four more people were hospitalized in stable condition: a two-year-old boy, a 23-year-old man, and two women ages 39 and 40. None of the victims have been publicly identified. Seattle police took one suspect into custody roughly three hours after the shooting and transported the individual to police headquarters for questioning. A second suspect fled and remained at large as of a late-night news conference.

Vendors and families caught in the crossfire at a festival that draws 350,000

The Bite of Seattle is one of the city's signature summer traditions, drawing an estimated 350,000 attendees over the course of the event, Breitbart reported. Sunday evening's crowd included families with small children, food vendors, clothing sellers, and moviegoers at nearby venues. What should have been a routine summer outing turned into a stampede.

Estan Wakonabo, a 25-year-old attendee who spoke to the Seattle Times and the Associated Press, described the scene bluntly:

"It was just pure chaos. People were hiding, were pushing, people were falling on the ground, baby strollers were falling."

Wakonabo said he recognized the sound of gunfire immediately. He later returned to the scene and saw gunshot victims and a body covered with a yellow sheet.

"Once I heard a 'pop, pop, pop,' that's when I knew it was a shooter."

Roberto Ramirez, a vendor at the event, heard what sounded like firecrackers before chaos broke out. He told reporters the crowd vanished in seconds.

"Suddenly everything was empty. People were freaked out."

A vendor from Los Angeles wrapped a stranger's gunshot wound with a T-shirt

Dominique Campbell had driven from Los Angeles to sell his clothing brand at the festival. When the shots started, he ducked for cover with his sister. Then a wounded woman reached his booth. Campbell grabbed a T-shirt and used it as a tourniquet, pressing it against the wound on her leg. The woman, he said, did not even know she had been shot.

"One of the people who got hit made it to my booth. I grabbed a T-shirt and wrapped her leg and just put pressure on it. She kept asking what happened."

Michael Girardi, another witness, watched paramedics treat the injured two-year-old. He described the boy's mother as being "in anguish." The toddler was among the four victims transported to the hospital, all listed in stable condition.

Scenes like these have become a grim pattern in American cities. Just weeks earlier, shootings across Chicago left at least 11 wounded and two dead in a single weekend.

Live video captured the moment shots rang out

Christopher Monterroso, a vendor with the Hawaiian Honey Cones food stand, was filming a live YouTube video when the gunfire started. The footage captured Monterroso turning his head toward the fleeing crowd and screaming at his staff to get down. Someone off-camera shouted "Shooting, shooting!" Monterroso's own reaction was captured on the stream: "Shooting, oh s***. Oh s*** right here."

Chase Hutchinson was near the SIFF Film Center, roughly 0.2 miles from where the shots were fired. He said he recognized the sound immediately.

"Immediately I knew what it was. I took a second for people to start running. There was this kind of surreal moment of 'what happened?' It all happened really, really fast."

Patrons inside the Pacific Science Center's IMAX theater were evacuated by police. Sean Swanson, a west Seattle resident inside the theater, heard an officer instruct the crowd: "Come out with your hands up." Swanson initially thought the command was directed at a suspect, not at moviegoers being led to safety.

The shooting drew a massive law enforcement response. The Washington Examiner reported that Gov. Bob Ferguson dispatched the Washington State Patrol SWAT team to assist Seattle police at the scene.

Police say witnesses are not coming forward

At a late-night news conference, Seattle Police Assistant Chief Tyrone Davis confirmed that one suspect was in custody and a second remained at large. He appealed directly to the public for help, and acknowledged that witnesses had been reluctant to cooperate.

"They're not coming forward. We need your help. We can't solve this without help from our community."

SPD deputy chief Andre Sayles indicated there is a possibility that more than two people were involved in the shooting, Newsmax reported. Davis described the suspect in custody as a "young person," but police have not released names, photographs, or any details about a possible motive. Just The News reported Davis also said, "There may be more. We're still trying to figure this out."

No information has been released about what weapons were used, whether the two suspects knew each other, or what prompted the exchange of gunfire in a crowd of families and vendors.

The incident follows a pattern of brazen public shootings in American cities. In East St. Louis, two teenagers were recently taken into custody after five family members were gunned down.

Officials condemned the violence, but offered few answers

Mayor Katie Wilson announced the arrest roughly three hours after the shooting. Fox News reported Wilson's full statement, in which she said the shooting struck at the heart of civic life:

"No one should have to weigh the risk of being shot before attending an event, gathering with friends, or experiencing their city. Impacted families are living through the worst moment of their lives, and an entire community is trying to understand how a gathering built around culture, connection, and joy ended in gunfire."

King County Executive Girmay Zahilay said he was "horrified" by the scenes and called the violence "heartbreaking and unacceptable."

"For years the Bite has been one of Seattle's signature summer traditions. To see violence at a place that brings so many people together is heartbreaking and unacceptable."

Gov. Ferguson said his "prayers are with the families of the victims, and the responders as they work to keep people safe." His office deployed the state SWAT team to assist, but neither the governor nor the mayor addressed what security measures had been in place at the festival or what steps would follow.

Shootings at public gatherings have become disturbingly routine. In Austin, Texas, multiple suspects opened fire across the city in a weekend spree that injured four.

A second suspect still at large and no motive in sight

As of the late-night news conference, police had not identified the second suspect or offered any description beyond what was already public. Photos emerged showing a heavyset, scruffy-haired person being led away in handcuffs by Seattle police with guns drawn, but authorities did not confirm whether the individual in the photos was the suspect taken into custody.

The New York Post reported that police suspect the two individuals were shooting at each other, not targeting the crowd, but the distinction offers little comfort to the families of three dead bystanders and a wounded toddler.

The shooting adds Seattle to a growing list of American cities where public spaces have become crime scenes. A fatal ambush shooting in Montreal recently killed a police officer and a rabbi, and an 89-year-old suspect allegedly shot four people inside government buildings in Athens, reminders that gun violence respects no border or setting.

Three people went to a food festival on a Sunday evening and never came home. A two-year-old boy is in a hospital bed. And witnesses who saw what happened are, in the words of the assistant police chief, "not coming forward." Until that changes, the people who turned a summer tradition into a shooting gallery face no public accountability at all.