SEATTLE — Two years and roughly 40 miles separate the theft of a Smith & Wesson handgun and its use in an unprovoked Belltown neighborhood shooting that killed a pregnant woman and injured her husband as they sat in their car, waiting for a red light to change.
There's no way to know how many times the 9mm exchanged hands as it made its way north from Lakewood to Seattle, but a crime lab report shows it was also used in at least one other violent crime: a drive-by shooting in Tacoma in August 2021.
The sequence illustrates how firearms circulate in the local black market, with frequent sales or trades occurring once weapons are used in crimes — often by people who aren't legally allowed to possess them, said Seattle police Chief Adrian Diaz.
