Seattle police investigate 'suspicious' fatal shooting of grandmother inside home

SEATTLE -- Seattle homicide detectives spent hours scouring for clues after a passer-by discovered a woman shot to death inside a home Tuesday morning in Seattle's Madison Valley neighborhood.

It happened on East Arthur Place shortly after 9 a.m. Investigators have called the shooting suspicious.

Police said the victim is an African American woman; neighbors said she was a loving mother and grandmother.

Emotions ran over at the crime scene. The victim’s family was too upset to talk on camera. But many neighbors recalled the victim as being a friendly face.

“It’s going to be sad to walk down the street and not see her again and see her come out and say, 'Hi, how are you doing?'” said neighbor Debra Smith.

Police said they were tipped off by someone walking past the home in the 2800 block of E. Arthur Place.

“The call indicated that there was a victim down inside the residence,” said Seattle police Detective Mark Jamieson. “Officers responded and confirmed it was a deceased, adult female.”

Smith lives at the end of the block and she remembers her neighbor as being a warm person.

“It’s a nice neighbor, someone I’ve had occasion for stopping and having conversation with,” she said. “She adored her grandchildren, she’s a nice woman.”

Detectives spent more than six hours processing the crime scene and interviewed potential witnesses.

Anyone with information is being asked to call police.