Man accused of randomly shooting 3 strangers in Renton, SeaTac

A man was charged Wednesday with assault and attempted murder, accused of randomly shooting three strangers in under an hour last week in Renton and SeaTac, according to prosecutors.

Mamadou Aliou Diallo, 32, was arrested Jan. 12 after King County Sheriff’s deputies followed his gold SUV from near the SeaTac shooting scene to Tacoma, where he was taken into custody and identified from his New York driver’s license, charging papers say.

Diallo was charged Wednesday with first-degree assault, accused of shooting a 57-year-old man, and two counts of attempted first-degree murder for allegedly shooting two other men, ages 42 and 30. He remains jailed in lieu of $3 million bail.

The 57-year-old man remained in critical condition Wednesday at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center, while the 30-year-old was in serious condition, hospital spokesperson Susan Gregg said.

The 42-year-old man was initially treated and released from Harborview, but he underwent another surgery hours later at Renton’s Valley Medical Center to repair damage caused by his gunshot wounds, say the charges against Diallo.

The first shooting was reported at 1:22 p.m. near the intersection of Rainier Avenue South and South Tobin Street, where Renton police found a vehicle riddled with at least seven bullet strikes and the injured 57-year-old driver inside a nearby business, charging papers say. He suffered gunshot wounds to his legs and abdomen, according to the charges, and police recovered three 9-mm shell casings from the scene. Surveillance footage showed a light-colored SUV flee the area.

Twenty minutes later, a second shooting was reported at a car dealership on Southwest Grady Way, where a 42-year-old employee suffered gunshot wounds to his legs, lower torso and arm, the charges say. Surveillance footage showed the driver of a gold Dodge Journey pull up behind the employee’s vehicle, get out and shoot the employee from a few feet away, then get back into the Dodge and drive away, according to the charges.

Four 9-mm casings were found at the car dealership, which is less than 1 1/2 miles from the first shooting scene, say the charges.

The third shooting was reported at 2:09 p.m. at South 160th Street and 34th Avenue South in SeaTac, where officers found a pedestrian lying on the ground after being shot by a man who fled in a gold SUV, according to charging papers. The 30-year-old victim suffered gunshot wounds to his stomach, chest and arms, and deputies located five 9-mm shell casings nearby, the charges say.

Two security guards who witnessed the shooting told deputies a man parked his gold SUV in the intersection, briefly exchanged words with the 30-year-old, shot him at point-blank range and fled the scene, the charges say.

Seven minutes later, a sheriff’s sergeant spotted the SUV, which had no license plates, say the charges. Deputies followed the vehicle south on Interstate 5 and stopped its driver, later identified as Diallo, near South Yakima Street in Tacoma, according to charging papers.

Inside the SUV, investigators found a 9-mm handgun, ammunition and five fired shell casings that were later matched to casings from the three shooting scenes, according to the charges.

Diallo’s last known address is in SeaTac, but he told police he was recently evicted for not paying rent, according to charging papers. Diallo self-reported that he has lived in Washington for 1 1/2 years, and prosecutors consider him a flight risk because he lacks ties to the community, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Terence Carlstrom noted in charging papers.