Woman wanted in Skyway shooting arrested Deputies say the woman has mental health problems

A woman whom police described as paranoid and extremely dangerous after she allegedly shot another woman in Skyway Wednesday was arrested and booked into King County Jail on Friday afternoon.

Thursday afternoon, the Sheriff's Office sent out photos of Ayanna A. Shamari, 51, hoping anyone who knew her whereabouts would call 911. Details of her arrest were not immediately available, but jail records show she was booked at 12:27 p.m. for investigation of first-degree assault and arson.

King County Sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart said the woman has mental health issues and wasn't provoked before the Wednesday evening attack.

Shamari lives in a group home in the 8500 block of South 117th Street. About 5:15 p.m. Wednesday she walked into the kitchen and starting shooting, deputies said.

A 59-year-old woman who owns the home was hit in the stomach and a second bullet grazed her head.

"Three other people were in the kitchen at the same time, including a young child," Urquhart said in a statement. "The only other injury was to a man who received cuts as he ran through a closed, sliding glass door to escape the gunfire."

Detectives believe Shamari set fire to her second floor bedroom just before the shooting or just after the attack.

The Skyway shooting was the second serious attack this week by suspects with mental illness, police said.

In an unrelated incident Monday morning, police say a schizophrenic man having delusions killed another man on Capitol Hill, in view of Seattle Academy students who had been let out early because of the snow. The victim, 58-year-old Joseph M. LaMango did not appear to have time to fight off his attacker and his grocery bag was still on his arm when police found him, according to court documents.

In 2008, former P-I reporter Carol Smith wrote award-winning articles about flaws in the state's mental health system. Read those reports here.