In the early hours of March 30, 2025, 23-year-old Ozzie Whitfield, a Black/African American man, was shot outside the Capri Hookah Lounge in Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood and pronounced dead at the scene. Surveillance footage shows a man later identified as 25-year-old Leontai D. Berry approach Whitfield, who was reportedly being frisked by security to enter the lounge, and fire a shot that struck him in the head.

The situation escalated when armed security guard Julius Rodriguez pursued the shooter. Rodriguez was fatally shot during the chase. Video evidence shows the suspect stumbling after hitting his head on a low-hanging beam as he fled; that forehead injury and a gunshot wound to the leg were later treated at Valley Medical Center, linking the patient to the incident. Berry was taken into custody and charged with two counts of first-degree murder with firearm enhancements and one count of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm; he was on federal probation for a prior gun-related conviction and is being held on $5 million bail. The motive for Whitfield’s shooting has not been publicly detailed.

Did anyone who was near the Capri Hookah Lounge that night see anything that could help clarify why Whitfield was targeted?