May the guilty party live in fear that each "On your left!" will be the last sound s/he hears.

Wild Wild West Wanted.

Get a rope!

The press release:


This is to let you know that a $7,500 reward has been set up for
information leading to the arrest of the person(s) who shot Peter
McKay, a Seattle cyclist, as he rode home on the evening of Thursday,
November 1. Peter's blog details the incident. As you'll note, he was
nearly killed. He was shot twice. One pellet entered his lung. Another
narrowly missed his aorta and spine. Both pellets are still in his
body. This was not an airgun used in this assault -- it was clearly a
real gun that was used to shoot Peter. The police believe that it was
a 22 handgun.


This is a very frightening and new form of violence against cyclists.
The initial reaction from the local cycling community was one of
shock, followed by swift action. Within three days of coming up with
the idea of a reward, more than $7,500 was pledged from local
cyclists. There is no question that many times this amount could be
raised from the cycling community. Within a week of the shooting,
volunteers papered West Seattle with hundreds of flyers announcing the
reward.


The intent of the reward is to approach this issue in a constructive
way. In addition to our objective of catching Peter's assailants, we
want to put the bad guys on notice that violence against cyclists will
not be tolerated. Any incident of this type will be challenged, and we
will make every effort possible to work with the police to catch them.
We also want the general public to know that if they witness any other
crime of violence against cyclists that they should immediately report
it. It is the right thing to do -- and there will likely be a reward
waiting. There is already some movement towards setting up a permanent
reward fund for this purpose.


If anyone has any information about this shooting, they should
immediately call the Crimestoppers hotline, 1-800-CRIME-13, or
206-343-2020. We are also encouraging additional contributions to the
reward fund. Here is the information:


* Payable to the Bicycle Alliance of Washington

* Mailed to this address: BAW, PO Box 2904, Seattle, WA 98111

* You can also pay via PayPal (pay to donation(AT)bicyclealliance.org ).

* Either way, the amount should be noted as being for the
"Crimestoppers - Cyclist Shooting Reward".


I think I can speak for all cyclists when I say that we are very
grateful for your prompt coverage of this matter.

ANOTHER PERSON ATTACKED
from McKay's blog:

hi...I read about your incident last week and was horrified. I am a bicyclist as well and commute daily to/from work and live not too far from you in southpark.

You were also mentioned to me again yesterday afternoon when i was in the Harborview ER for, guess what; a deep-penetration pellet wound. You and I are BB-brothers apparently because I will have this one in my thigh, near the bone, for the rest of my life. Unlike you, however, I was not hit while riding, but while walking with my wife.
Otherwise my experience mirrors yours exactly what with the medics and the repetetive questions. I also had the added pleasure of answering all the questions again for the police. (I didn't know I could fit 10 people-including myself-in our tiny bathroom!!)
Anyway, my wife got into her car and tried to follow the perps (who had sped away laughing) but to no avail. (she was strongly chastised by the police for this and in hindsight, it was not a good idea) What we did get was a good look at the car; a late-model four-door red ford escort. I was wondering if you had seen the car of those who hit you? Oh, I also found out later that my neighbor's kid had been hit not 5 minutes prior to me...luckily no penetration. They did not report it until they saw the police cars outside my house.
I am very frustrated by the whole incident...first and foremost because i won't be able to ride until the pain subsides, but also because of the complete lack of empathy or understanding on the part of these people. I really want to find them and at least talk to them....maybe they don't realize the damage these things can cause. If i or my wife had been hit in the eye, we would surely have been blinded. Or if, as you mentioned, the spinal cord..I shudder to think of what could have happened!! As it was, there was a brief period in the E.R. when they couldn't find a pulse in my leg and were worried that an artery had been severed. (It turned out that I was just really cold from having all my clothes cut off of me in the ambulance.)
The police said they suspect it may have been the same people who got you.
Since my neighbor also postively identified the make/model/color of car, I asked the police if at the very least they would be checking the registry of all local late-model red ford escorts and to my surprise, though it would be very simple, they said they would not. The officer was very frank with me in telling me that one of two things would have to happen for more aggressive pursuit: 1) more people would have to get hit as you and i did or 2) the media would have to make a big to-do about it. (I guess they are strongly motivated by the possibility of looking bad.)
So in addition to my query as to what, if anything you saw, I'm wondering if you wanted to join forces and do something about it in terms of media? At this point I'm doubtful anyone would bite since it is, literally, yesterday's news. Also, I generally don't like the news-media and they way they cover and don't cover things, plus I know it would be a major pain in the ass for us, but I am worried about someone else getting hurt worse.