Seattle police are shuffling tips on Chinatown slaying

Seattle police on Friday were culling through witness tips and surveillance video in an effort to find the person responsible for killing Donnie Chin in the Chinatown International District early Thursday morning.

Chin, 59, patrolled the neighborhood as an unofficial security force for almost 50 years. While no arrests have been made in his slaying, Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole said the department will “work tirelessly to bring his killer to justice.”

On Friday morning, Assistant Chief Robert Merner said detectives were reviewing tips and video surveillance captured near where Chin was found fatally shot. Merner has asked anyone with information to call the homicide tip line at 206-233-5000.

Police said they were called to the area of Eighth Avenue South and South Weller Street just before 3 a.m. Thursday after shooting was reported. Officers found a wounded man inside a car with windows that had been shot out.

The man, later identified as Chin, was taken to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition. He died a short time later.

Chin was in junior high school when he started tuning into a police radio in an effort to help out in the Seattle neighborhood where his family had roots dating back almost four generations. Friends and fellow emergency responders say he regularly arrived ahead of ambulances and police cruisers responding to those in need — more than once performing CPR until official help arrived.

Almost single-handedly, Chin created and managed the International District Emergency Center. The IDEC, which was his sole place of employment since he was a teenager, survived on donations and grants.

A candlelight memorial service for Chin will be held at 9 p.m. Sunday at Hing Hay Park, 423 Maynard Ave S. The memorial is open to the public.