4 Patrons Killed, 6 Hurt as Gunmen Storm Restaurant

Gunmen fired a barrage of bullets inside a Vietnamese restaurant early Sunday, killing four people and wounding six others in an attack police say had the hallmarks of a gang hit.

About 20 patrons were inside the Trang Dai restaurant and karaoke club when at least three gunmen barged in around 1:30 a.m., police spokesman Jim Mattheis said.

“I’m sure it had to be total pandemonium in there when the shooting erupted, because there was nowhere for people to go,” Mattheis said.

Three men and a woman were killed. No one has been arrested.

“It was not a robbery. . . . They didn’t say anything, didn’t take anything,” Mattheis said.

Two of the injured were taken to Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, where they were listed in critical condition, Mattheis said.

One victim was treated at Tacoma General Hospital for a wound to the arm, and another was treated and released for a wound to the hand, hospital officials said. At St. Joseph Medical Center, a man was in satisfactory condition and a second was treated for what appeared to be minor wounds, a nursing supervisor said.

Mattheis said the restaurant’s owner is among those with minor wounds, but police did not immediately know if he or other victims were the targets of the shooters.

Gang graffiti dots the neighborhood, but Mattheis said there has been little recent gang activity in the area. Police had received calls about the restaurant in the past, but Mattheis had no details about the nature of the calls.