A young US Tongan woman in Seattle, Melissa Prisila Langi (23), is being charged with 10 counts of first-degree assault by a US Court for her participation in four separate drive by-shootings. She was arrested by Seattle Police last month May 26, in connection with the shootings.
Melissa and two teenage accomplices are alleged to have conducted at least four drive-by shootings between April 24 and May 4, during which hundreds of rounds were fired on unsuspecting victims in Seattle and the nearby city of Kent in Washington state.
Remarkably, no one was killed in the shootings, with only one person reported to have been shot – an elderly newspaper deliveryman. Prosecutors described the shootings as "an attempted thrill kill".
Melissa’s accomplices were two teens Rodney Strickland (17) and Isiah Lewis (18). Seattle Police stated that the trio were all gang members, and that Melissa was the girlfriend of a gang member in her neighbourhood.
The prosecution alleged that the trio used assault rifles and shot indiscriminately at random people who had no gang ties. Melissa was the owner of two rifles allegedly used in the shootings, an AK-47 and an AR-15.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Jason Simmons wrote in the charging papers against Melissa, “The motive for the shootings appears to be the shooting itself…possibly as an attempted thrill killing,”
The drive-by shootings involving Melissa are outlined below,
- April 24, 19 rounds were fired at a family of four who were getting out of their vehicle.
- April 30, 30+ rounds were fired at the home of a teacher.
- May 3, 29+ rounds were fired on a vehicle with three people inside.
- May 4, 50+ rounds were shot at the car of an elderly couple. The husband was hit in the chest and was hospitalized for two weeks, his wife was injured by glass shards.
