In the early morning hours of June 18, 2025, the life of 35-year-old Minh-Thuong T. Ly, a man from Seattle, was tragically cut short. Responding to reports of gunfire shortly before 2 a.m., King County Sheriff's Office deputies arrived at the 14000 block of Ambaum Boulevard Southwest in Burien to a grim scene. Ly was discovered deceased, slumped in the driver's seat of a vehicle parked outside the El Pique Restaurant.
The initial investigation at the scene quickly turned into a homicide inquiry, marking the first killing of the year in the city of Burien.
Two days after the discovery, the King County Medical Examiner's Office officially identified the victim as Minh-Thuong T. Ly and determined that his death was a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds. In the immediate aftermath, investigators from the Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit worked to piece together the events leading up to the fatal shooting. They canvassed the area for potential witnesses and scoured for surveillance footage that might shed light on whether the attack was a random act of violence or a targeted execution. For a time, no suspects were publicly identified, and the question of motive hung heavy in the air.
Ten days of intensive investigation yielded a significant breakthrough. On June 28, the quiet of the night was broken by a police chase near South 152nd Street. Major Crimes detectives had been conducting surveillance on a vehicle of interest, which had been flagged by automated license-plate readers. The pursuit ended around 1 a.m. with a foot chase, culminating in the apprehension of several individuals. Authorities confirmed at the scene that the arrests were directly connected to the murder of Minh-Thuong T. Ly, bringing a swift development to a case that had started with a mysterious shooting outside a suburban restaurant. While officials did not immediately release the names of the suspects, the arrests marked a crucial turning point in the investigation.
