UPDATE 4/19/14 4:23 PM: SPD says the victim has died:

The shooting from early this morning is now officially a homicide investigation. The 24-year-old male victim was transported to Harborview Medical Center where he died as a result of his injuries.

Original report: Police and medics found a man in his 20s suffering from life-threatening injuries after a burst of gunfire was reported early Saturday morning near 22nd and E Union. Detectives are looking for information about what led to the 2:35 AM shooting. If you saw or heard something that might help, call 911 or the Seattle Police Homicide/Assault Unit at (206) 233-5000.

Man Shot in the Central District

Written by Detective Jeff Kappel on April 19, 2014

The suspect(s) remain at large after a man was discovered shot in the chest in the Central District early this morning. On April 19th at approximately 2:35 a.m. officers responded to the 2200 block of East Union Street for 911 reports of multiple shots fired. Additional calls to 911 reported someone had been shot. Officers arrived on scene and discovered an adult male victim with a gunshot wound to the chest lying on the sidewalk outside of a residence. A woman associated with the victim was standing nearby who claimed to have found the victim and subsequently called 911. She did not however, see the events that lead up to the shooting. Officers located shell casings in the vicinity of the victim that were collected up and placed into evidence for further forensic analysis. Fire department medics responded to the scene and transported the victim, a man believed to be in his 20′s, to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Unfortunately, there is no suspect or suspect vehicle description available at this time.

Homicide/Assault, CSI and Gang Unit detectives responded to the scene and continue to actively investigate. Anyone with information about this incident or who may know the identities or whereabouts of the suspect(s) is asked to call 911 or the Seattle Police Homicide/Assault Unit at (206) 233-5000 and refer to this incident. Anonymous tips are welcome.

This remains an active and on-going investigation.

UPDATE 4/19/14 9:00 PM: SPD reports that there had been gunplay nearby earlier Friday evening that resulted in the arrest of a man wanted on warrants and the recovery of two handguns. Police have not said the arrest and the fatal shooting are related.

UPDATE 4/20/14 9:30 PM: Friends of the victim slain in an early Saturday shooting in the street at 22nd and Union say the young man’s name was Kevin Brown, a 24-year-old police and prosecutors say had a lengthy criminal history and was affiliated with the Deuce 8 Central District gang.

A graffiti tribute to Brown appeared over the weekend near Flo Ware Park.

Brown’s criminal record included a conviction on two counts for selling crack cocaine to a police informant during a 2009 sweep of the Central District designed to stem violence at the annual SeaFair Torchlight Parade that summer. Brown was 19 at the time. His sentence called for treatment not imprisonment. His name returns a long list of Seattle Municipal Court and King County District Court records in the years since. In mid-March of this year, he was arrested by officers who said they saw him rifling through a fallen man’s pockets in an alleged street robbery in progress on 1st Ave. Brown was booked and released from jail the next day but apparently had not been charged with a crime. He posted a $35,000 bond according to court records.

In the prosecution of his 2009 arrest in the crack cocaine sting, the King County District Attorney wrote that Brown was a “self-proclaimed” Deuce 8 member and that members of the gang were “actively selling drugs in the area of 28th and S. Jackson near Flo Ware Park.” In the sting, Brown was busted after a series of small drug transactions involving a police informant. The final buy of the 2009 sting took place near 21st and Union.