Seattle police are searching for a suspect after a 19-year-old University of Washington student was stabbed to death Sunday night inside a laundry room at an off-campus housing complex in Seattle.
The attack happened shortly after 10 p.m. at the Nordheim Court Apartments on 25th Avenue Northeast, where officers found the victim dead at the scene. Police said Monday that the suspect remains at large and should be considered armed and dangerous.
Investigators described the suspect as a Black man standing about 5′6″ or 5′7″ with a slim build, black hair and a beard. He was last seen wearing a button-up shirt, a dark blue vest and blue jeans. Detectives said they do not believe the suspect is a University of Washington student, and authorities are reviewing surveillance video as they try to determine whether the stabbing was a targeted attack or a random act of violence.
The university said the victim’s family has been notified. Officials urged students to remain alert and travel in groups, particularly after dark, as the search continues.
The victim was identified by police as a 19-year-old transgender woman, but authorities had not publicly released her name. That detail adds to the urgency of the case because investigators have yet to say whether she was specifically targeted or simply caught in an act of violence that could happen again. Police asked anyone with information to contact the Seattle Police Department homicide unit.
For now, the case turns on one unanswered point with immediate consequences for campus and neighborhood safety: whether the killer chose the victim or found her by chance.
