Philly's Owner Killed, Other Man Critical

By scott
(4 votes) (report abuse)
As we reported as the news broke, there was a tragic shooting just before lunch today at the Philadelphia Cheese Steak shop at 23rd & Union. One of the victims was Dejene Berecha, the owner of the store, who was shot in the head and passed away after arriving at Harborview. Several of our commenters have said what a nice guy and hard worker he was, and how much he was looking forward to the future, with a recent marriage and a plan to relocate the shop this weekend to a different spot up the street, in part due to the ongoing issues we've seen around 23rd & Union.

We don't have much information on the second victim, only that he was an asian male, and that he is still in critical condition at Harborview. It's not clear if he was an employee of the store, a specific target of the shooter, or just an innocent bystander.

A witness we spoke to described how a black male in his 20s walked into the store, fired three shots, and then sped away northbound on 23rd Ave. Other witnesses described how people in the store went running out the back door after the assailant opened fire.

The suspect in the crime is Rey Alberto Davis-Bell, pictured below, who was involved in a different shooting just 20 minutes before in West Seattle. In that incident he fired a number of rounds into the window of his girlfriend's apartment, but luckily the two women and baby in the apartment were unhurt. Police believe the two events are connected because the vehicle description is nearly identical in each case. But it is still a mystery how the restaurant is connected to either him or the earlier shooting.



Police urge anyone with information on Davis-Bell to call 911. He is considered "well armed" and dangerous, so do not approach him. He is a 23 year-old black male, approximately 6 feet tall and with a thin build. His vehicle is described as a black 2003 Lincoln Continental with dark tinted windows and flashy gold rims. Davis-Bell also has a significant criminal record that includes violence, with a 2001 conviction of harassment and a 2003 assault with a gun.

Update:11:18PM - KOMO TV just reported that the suspect's vehicle has been recovered near 23rd Ave S & Forest on Beacon Hill. We have information that his family lives in that area. However Davis-Bell himself is still at large.

Here's links to coverage on this from the major news outlets:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/349342_shooting31.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004154110_webshooting30m.html
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_013008WAB_cd_shooting_KS.7319259f.html
http://www.komotv.com/news/14981816.html
http://www.kirotv.com/news/15177078/detail.html
http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/shooting_at_23rd_and_union

tags: shooting, Phillys, 23rd Union + add tags
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location: Central DistrictSeattle, Washington
posted on Wed, Jan 30, 2008 08:25 PM
last updated on Tue, Feb 12, 2008 02:33 PM
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shooting, phillys byzelan January 31, 2008 (5 votes) (report abuse) (reply)
I am so sad and disturbed that our dear Ethiopian brother has died. He was a hard working man who believed
in the American dream. So many like him have died to provide for their family back home. Thanks to people
like him who risk their lives the central district is getting cleaner every year. Look back 15 years ago the central
district was like bagdad, cabs would not even go beyond 12th and cherry. Now you can't even afford to buy
a house here. Ethiopian like Koreans in other cities stated opening up businesses way before safe way or strabucks. We were not afraid of the BIG BAD BALCK PEOPLE maybe we were wrong . Just like we made 18th street ( adams morgan) in washington DC. So tonight i went to place flowers at his resturant and as i was sobbing some drunk african american began to harrass me and i pushed him with all my strength and for some reason it felt good I don't even know if he realized where he was or why i did that. Why? why is it so hard to clean up this place, why has the police failed us, why is it that we always have crime here even though our home values and taxes have gone so up? What is the point of having 30 police cars after the crime?
RE: shooting, phillys (below viewing threshold show)bywynter bowens January 31, 2008 (4 votes) (report abuse)
RE: shooting, phillys byUse your common sense February 09, 2008 (0 votes) (report abuse)
I know you are hurt and devastated by this tragedy. But please do not ever use the language you used to put down black people again. There are bad individuals in all races. Do you think white people dont commit crimes agaist each other? Use your common sense, and not your emotions.
Sorry bywogene barecha February 09, 2008 (1 votes) (report abuse) (reply)
I lost my lovely brother