The Capitol Hill massacre was a mass shooting committed by 28-year-old Kyle Aaron Huff in the eastern part of Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. On the morning of March 25, 2006, Huff entered a rave after-party and opened fire, killing six and wounding two. He would then commit suicide as he was being confronted by police on the front porch of 2112 E. Republican Street.
Timeline
Prior to the shooting In a panel released by the Seattle Police Department headed by criminologist, James Alan Fox of Northeastern University, it was suggested Huff had been planning the shooting as early as February. He was identified sitting in his truck by employees of Studio Seven studying the patrons coming and going from events at the venue. Upon a review of his internet search history, it was revealed that he frequently searched for upcoming rave events.
On the evening of March 24, 2006, a "Better Off Undead" event was held at the Capitol Hill Arts Center (CHAC), which reported a maximum attendance of 350 throughout the evening. By nearly all accounts, CHAC itself had ample security at the event, with more than 20 security personnel on duty.Angela Galloway and D. Parvaz, , Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 30, 2006. Retrieved April 7, 2006.Josh Feit and Dan Savage, Raving Mad , The Stranger, Mar 30 – Apr 5, 2006. Retrieved April 7, 2006. At the event, Huff was invited to attend an after-party at a private residence about a mile away. Sometime between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. on March 25, Huff left the event to attend the after-party. A last-minute invitee, Huff did not personally know anyone at the after-party. He was quiet but spoke pleasantly with everyone as the after-party progressed. Nobody recalled him leaving, and there was no altercation or belligerent behavior exhibited by Huff.
Shooting Huff left the house at 7:00 a.m. and returned to his large truck, parked nearby. From the truck, he retrieved a 12-gauge Winchester 1300 Defender pump-action shotgun with a pistol grip and a .40-caliber Ruger P944 semi-automatic handgun, and several bandoliers with more than 300 rounds of ammunition for the guns.On the arsenal used: Tracy Johnson and Angela Galloway, Police seized Huff's guns once, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 28, 2006. Retrieved July 24, 2006. On his way back to the after-party, he spray-painted the word "NOW" on the sidewalk and on the steps of a neighboring home. Upon arrival, he shot five victims who were outside talking: two on the steps, the others on the porch. People inside tried to hold the front door of the house shut, but Huff forced his way in through the door and shot three more people on the first floor.
During the shooting, Huff allegedly stated "There's plenty for everyone" or something similar.Maria Newman, Seattle Gunman PlannedAttack, Police Say , The New York Times, March 27, 2006. Retrieved March 29, 2019. On the second floor, he fired twice through the locked door of a bathroom where a couple had taken refuge inside the bathtub; neither person was hit. Five victims died at the scene, and three victims who were badly injured during the shooting were taken to Harborview Medical Center, one of whom died there. The shooting inside the house lasted for five minutes, although Huff reportedly stopped shooting people and started wandering the house, walking past numerous people without shooting at them. A patrol officer nearby, Steve Leonard, heard the shots and headed to the scene, getting the address from multiple 911 dispatches. When he got to the house, he encountered an injured victim and immediately got between the victim and the house, as Huff was coming down the steps. Before the officer could complete his demand that Huff drop his weapon, Huff placed the gun in his mouth and shot himself through the head.Tom Francis, “He didn’t show a lot of emotion.” on SLOG, The Stranger's blog, March 25, 2006. Retrieved July 24, 2006.Sam Skolnik, Capitol Hill massacre: A timeline of events, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 26, 2006. Retrieved July 24, 2006. He fired his shotgun at least 9 times, including his final shot, and he fired his pistol at least 5 times. The shotgun was reloaded twice and the handgun was reloaded once. He continuously chambered rounds during the attack, causing his weapons to eject live rounds across the crime scene.
Aftermath Following the shooting, police found that Huff's truck contained a .223-caliber Bushmaster XM-15-E2S semi-automatic rifle, another handgun, several more boxes of ammunition, a baseball bat, and a machete. On the afternoon of March 25, the Seattle Police Department served a search warrant on the North Seattle apartment that Huff shared with his identical twin brother, Kane, where they found more guns and ammunition. During the search, Huff's brother returned home, unaware of what had happened. He was taken into custody, questioned, then later released.
Many who attended the Capitol Hill Arts Center event learned of the shooting the next morning via local "rave" online forums, some of which included first-hand accounts from survivors.Michelle Nicolosi, Ravers flock to Web for news: Many fear their friends are among shooting victims , Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 24, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2006. On March 28, at the site of the mass murder, the Church Council of Greater Seattle, led by Reverend Sanford Brown and other local clergy, held an interfaith prayer service.KING-TV News, March 28, 2006, "Killer: 'plenty for everyone'" The service was attended by more than 500 people. One of the wounded victims underwent numerous surgeries, and it was deemed too dangerous to remove the remaining bullet fragments in his arm.
Victims Deceased
Melissa Moore, 14Benjamin J. Romano, Melissa Moore, 14, remembered as loving and generous , Seattle Times, March 28, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2006. Suzanne Thorne, 15Debera Carleton Harrell, , Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 28, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2006. Justin "Sushi" Schwartz, 22Brad Wong, Justin Schwartz, 22: Ravers remember his 'uplifting spirit' , Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 26, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2006.David Postman and Warren Cornwall, Justin Schwartz remembered: "He was just a warm, energetic, fun-loving person" , Seattle Times, March 28, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2006.Sushi on MySpace Christopher "Deacon 808" Williamson, 21David Postman, Christopher Williamson remembered as a budding DJ , Seattle Times, March 28, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2006. on LiveJournal.Deacon808 on MySpace. Jeremy Martin, 26Christine Willmsen, Jack Broom and Sonia Krishnan, Jeremy Martin known for his curiosity, hard work , Seattle Times, March 28, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2006. Jason Travers, 32Emily Heffter and Christine Willmsen, Jason Travers remembered as gentle man, good listener , Seattle Times, March 28, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2006.
Injured Kian Movasagi, 18 One unidentified teenager
Perpetrator
Kyle Aaron Huff (September 22, 1977 – March 25, 2006) was identified as the shooter in the morning massacre. His motive remains unknown. Huff claimed to have attended The Art Institute of Seattle and North Seattle Community College, although neither institution has records of him attending. Huff's employment history consisted exclusively of pizza delivery jobs. Huff's parents divorced in January 1992 or before. He graduated high school in 1996, where he was voted "least school-spirited".
Huff had previously been arrested in his hometown of Whitefish, Montana back in the summer of 2000, for destroying a public arts project and was charged with a felony. He shot up a statue of a moose that was part of an installation called "Moose on the Loose". He was described by residents there as a well-liked person with a minor history of delinquency. He moved to Seattle with his twin brother about five years before the shooting. He had little contact with police in Seattle, but was involved in a brawl at the Lobo Saloon in 2004.Phuong Le, Angela Galloway, and Mike Lewis, , Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 28, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2006.
The weapons used were purchased legally at sporting goods stores in Kalispell, Montana.Jennifer Sullivan and Mike Carter, Two of Capitol Hill killer's victims were teenage girls , Seattle Times, March 28, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2006. They were seized by the police in Whitefish after he pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor mischief charge in the moose incident. They were returned after he paid restitution and a fine. The original felony charge for destroying the art would have prohibited him from legally owning firearms.
In 2002, a man in Whitefish, who was high school friends with Huff, killed his own parents before committing suicide. Investigators believe that event may have given Huff a model for his own attack. Huff was not well known in Seattle's rave scene. Very few people in the scene knew him or interacted with him. On February 1, 2006, someone with the email address [email protected] asked on an internet message board run by local raver Groovinkim when the next rave was because he'd never been to one.kim's seattle raves page . Retrieved April 8, 2006. Evidentially, this may not be the perpetrator despite the resemblance of name due to the fact that the same user made a follow-up comment later in April, after the attack and Huff's suicide. kim's seattle raves page . Retrieved March 25, 2026.
Motive A possible window into the killer's motives appeared nearly a month after the event. An apartment manager of a complex about a mile from Huff's residence called police about a possible bomb he found while inspecting dumpsters, although that bomb turned out to be just modeling clay and wires. In the investigation afterwards, police found a handwritten note in the dumpster apparently written by Huff. On June 6, the police released the letter, not yet authenticated, to the media.Claudia Rowe, , Seattle P-I, June 7, 2006. A week later, the Washington State Patrol's Crime Lab concluded that it was "highly probable" that the letter was authentic. Arguments in favor of authenticity included the fact that the letter was written on stationery from the apartment complex where the Huff brothers lived and matched several known samples of the killer's writing, according to crime lab experts. The Stranger, an alternative weekly, earlier claimed that the handwriting on the letter appeared to be identical to samples from a job application of Huff's that the periodical had obtained.Thomas Francis, Parting Shot , The Stranger, Jun 1 – 7, 2006
The letter, dated two days before the killings, was specific in expressing the writer's anger at young ravers for their provocative lifestyle, particularly their sexual freedom, and said that the things they did and said were too disturbing for the writer to live with. Quotes from the letter include "I hope that you will find this letter after the fact. Don’t let the police or FBI keep you from haveing (sic) it, this is my last wish”, "Don’t kill yourself moron. That’s the last thing I would want to happen. I hate leaving you by yourself, but this is something I feel I have to do. My life would always feel incomplete otherwise", "They’re packed in there, groping each other, having sex", "I’ve got to do something about it. ... These people are screwing up the world", and "This hippy stuff has to end". It ended with the quote "Now, kids, Now", reminiscent of the letters "NOW" that Huff spray painted during the massacre. Additionally, in the weeks leading up to the massacre, he had attempted to start dating a woman, sending her flowers and calling leaving her messages but she said he was 'not her type'.
Legacy