SEATTLE — Memorials are growing outside popular beer garden The Growler Guys in North Seattle, as friends and family honor the life of a young employee found dead at the business Saturday morning.

Seattle police said coworkers found the victim’s body with apparent fatal gunshot wounds inside The Growler Guys around 9 a.m. Saturday. Authorities have not publicly identified the victim yet. He was in his 20s.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Seattle beer garden employee found shot to death inside workplace

The young man’s death has shocked and shaken the surrounding North Seattle community.

Dozens of family members, friends, and regular customers surrounded the taped-off homicide scene for hours throughout the day Saturday. Several people who knew the victim described him as a friend to all, a family man, and a stand-out employee to his boss, Kelly Dole.

“He was a part of my community at The Growler Guys,” Dole said. “It’s been a joy just to see them together day after day, and for him to lose his life this way is just a shame and such a loss.”

The victim was also a close friend of Dole’s son for years.

The Growler Guys is closed for the time being, but many people stopped by on Sunday to drop off flowers, cards, or to stop to take a moment and reflect.

A note left at the corner of NE 85th St. and 20th Ave. NE was written by a family that had the victim serve them at The Growler Guys. “While we were only lucky enough to know you for one evening,” the note reads, “I know there are many, many more lives you have made a lasting impact on.”

Left next to the note was a child’s apple juice box. Coworkers of the victim said he always gave kids free apple juice.

“Don’t tell my boss,” they said the victim would say with a smile.

He really was important to the guests and always had a smile, Dole said of his young employee. He had worked at The Growler Guys for about a year.

The victim was killed sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning, and police are still investigating a possible motive and suspect. So far, no arrests have been made.

People living nearby, who wanted to remain anonymous, said they didn’t hear any gunshots but called the death shocking: “Well, my heart breaks. My first thought is that it’s a tragedy,” one man said.

Anyone with information or surveillance video in the surrounding Lake City area should contact Seattle police or 911 immediately.

Dole said he hopes justice is served to offer a small piece of closure to the victim’s grieving family.

“My heart goes out to his mom and his dad, his brother and other family members,” Dole said. “It’s just so tragic.”

After the Seattle City Council moved forward with legislation that would expand temporary homeless shelters without buffer zones near schools, KIRO host Jake Skorheim questioned who the city really cares about.

Jake wondered aloud about what goes on in a Seattle City Council member’s head, assuming they even read the proposal.

“They see the thing, they go like, ‘Well, what do we think about this one here, about school zones?’ They’re like, ‘I don’t know about that. Let’s scratch that out. We can have homeless people around school zones, drug addicts, people who are trying to get their fix,’” he said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

Seattle legislation would increase shelter capacity by 50%

If approved, the legislation would let temporary shelter sites, including tiny home villages, RV safe lots, and tent encampments, increase capacity by 50%, raising the maximum from 100 to 150 residents.

Approved amendments would require sites with more than 100 beds to maintain public safety plans and around-the-clock staffing. Another amendment would require shelters to establish agreements with surrounding neighborhoods outlining expectations for resident behavior and site management. A final amendment mandates at least one manager for every 15 high-needs residents.

Still, several nonprofits urged council members to pass the bill without amendments, arguing the added restrictions could slow resources to people experiencing homelessness and further stigmatize them.

Jake had a question for city leaders: “Who do you care more about? You care more about the kids or the homeless drug addicts?”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

SEATTLE — Seattle police are investigating a homicide after a man was found dead Saturday morning at a business in the city’s Lake City neighborhood, authorities said.

Officers responded to the 8500 block of Lake City Way Northeast after employees arriving to open the Growler Guys, a beer garden and restaurant, discovered a deceased man inside around 9 a.m. Saturday, Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes said at the scene.

The man, who police confirmed to be an employee in his early 20s, appeared to have died from gunshot wounds, Barnes said.

Seattle Fire Department personnel pronounced him dead.

Dozens of friends and family members of the young victim spent hours on the scene Saturday, and many were visibly overcome with emotion.

Kelly Dole, owner of the Growler Guys, described the victim as a warm, light-hearted young man.

“He was the type of friend that everybody wanted to have,” Dole said. “His group of friends, which includes my son, are really going to miss him. They’re about as tight as a group of young men can be.”

The victim had been working at the business the night before; however, Seattle police have not confirmed when the shooting happened or what may have led up to it.

“When we have things like this, we have to reevaluate what we could’ve done better,” Chief Barnes said. “How can we make sure that we’re doing everything in our power to bring justice to this family, because quite frankly, they deserve it.”

Detectives are focusing their investigation on the business and were processing the scene for evidence Saturday. Officers, investigators, chaplains, and support services were present.

The restaurant’s owners are cooperating with police, Barnes said. Dole was emotional while speaking with KOMO News about how the tragic shooting has shaken his neighborhood business.

“He always had a smile; he was so buoyant, you could never get him down,” Dole talked about the victim. “The world lost someone important today.”

Authorities said residents can expect an increased police presence in the area as the investigation continues and in the coming days.

There is no suspect information at this time, and police did not make any arrests. The circumstances leading up to the killing are under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at 206-233-5000.

The killing marks Seattle’s 12th homicide of the year, according to Barnes.

This is a developing news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.