A review of the Bite of Seattle festival mass shooting shows police officers took a shooter into custody in less than half a minute, but it took much longer for the public to get official information.
A review of the Bite of Seattle festival mass shooting shows police officers took a shooter into custody in less than half a minute, but it took much longer for the public to get official information because of apparent delays brought on by the Mayor's Office to Seattle police.
In an update to the Seattle City Council's public safety committee, Assistant Chief Tyrone Davis and Interim Chief Andre Sayles walked through an after-action review of the Bite of Seattle shooting.
Davis, who was the acting chief at the time of the shooting, revealed new details about the hours-long delay in releasing information to the public about the shooting.
Staff of Mayor Katie Wilson had blamed SPD for the delay in public updates, but Davis said Deputy Mayor Brian Surratt told him to not conduct any press briefings until the Mayor was on site.
According to Davis, SPD leadership was ready to conduct a press briefing at 7:30 p.m., approximately 90 minutes after the shooting.
"We were ready to go," he said. "I was getting ready to walk down there and handle it. I did talk to the deputy mayor (Surratt) just as a courtesy to let him know we were going to do down and conduct the interview. I was told we needed to wait for the Mayor."
Davis says he offered Surratt an alternative plan to conduct a preliminary press briefing now, and another later in the evening when the Mayor arrived.
Davis said Surratt told him to not conduct any press briefing without the Mayor.
The Mayor, flanked by Governor Bob Ferguson and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, briefed the press for the first time at approximately 11:00 p.m.
Prior to that, there had been next-to-no information shared by police about the person who was arrested, and early confirmation that this was a targeted shooting between gang members and not an attack on the festival itself.
The 11:00 p.m. briefing was also the first time police said the Seattle Center campus was safe.
"I will tell you this right now, what I shared in the 20-minute press conference at 11:00 p.m. would have been the same exact information I would have provided at 7:30 - nothing changed," Davis said. "That’s how stable the situation was. That’s how well run our officers were. That’s how well prepared detective Pritchard and our media folks were.”
Davis' new claim about Surratt ordering the delay in information is a stark contrast to prior information released by the office of Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson.
Last week, Wilson said her office did not delay the release of information until 9:45 p.m.
"I think I've been clear for a long time now that I own, my office owns, that final delay between 9:45 and 10:45 p.m. when the press conference ultimately took place," Wilson told reporters. "The public deserves clear, consistent communication in case of emergencies. A press conference with myself and other elected officials in no way should replace clear, consistent, informative communication throughout the night from SPD."
KOMO News asked Mayor Katie Wilson's office if they disputed anything about Davis' recounting of the delays.
In a statement, the Mayor's Office did not respond to that question, but referenced updated communications practices implemented by the Mayor's Office and SPD.
"Right now, the mayor is focused on the important work of preventing these kinds of tragedies from happening again, and providing healing for the families of the victims and our city, the statement said. "During emergencies, a goal is streamlined communication between the Mayor’s Office, and the Seattle Police Department, and the public. We’ve been clear and consistent that strengthening processes to meet that goal is a priority."
AFTER ACTION REPORT ON THE SHOOTING
Ahead of Tuesday's council meeting, SPD released a copy of an after-action report on the response to the shooting.
Gunfire broke out around 6 p.m. on July 26 near the Armory at Seattle Center during the final day of the Bite of Seattle festival, with thousands of people in attendance.
According to the report, SPD officers took one of the shooting suspect into custody within 30 seconds.
The after-action report noted there was good planning for the event with medical stations, ambulance planning, and prior notice to hospitals of the large-scale public gathering.
While the report praised the quick response of officers, it said there were issues with coordinating mutual aid from other agencies who responded to the shooting, including the FBI.
The report also noted the delay in releasing public information and said a elected officials responding to the scene was unhelpful.
"Senior and elected officials distracted sworn staff from completing timely public safety information and on-scene decision making," the report states.
Governor Bob Ferguson's office said in a statement on Tuesday that his office had no contact with SPD outside of a 9pm briefing on Teams.
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According to the report, officers located seven people with gunshot wounds.
Three died — two at the scene and one at Harborview Medical Center. Four others were wounded, with three taken to Harborview and one walking into UW Medical Center-Montlake.
Authorities received word that a possible person of interest ran toward the IMAX theater. SWAT and patrol officers searched and evacuated the theater, following the event’s incident action plan.
Meanwhile, no secondary injuries were reported during the evacuation.
Police officials established incident command at the scene. Lt. Farwell took initial command, with Capt. Ward arriving and assuming command about an hour later.
Acting Chief Davis coordinated with the mayor’s office after arriving shortly after Ward.
In the hours after the shooting, police first held internal briefings with department commanders and elected officials.
The report found that the presence of elected officials and senior staff slowed the release of public safety information and complicated on-scene decisions.
Seattle police said, "Officers ran toward gunfire; shooter in custody within 20–30 seconds." The report also found, "A strong tactical response does not automatically produce a fast public information response — the two need separate planning and resourcing."
The after-action report noted minor inconsistencies in casualty totals and officer staffing figures.
It also found some outside help, such as from the FBI, did not always coordinate with the incident commander as required.
Several recommendations came from the review, including the need to name a public information officer on scene who has authority to send public safety alerts, separate the acting chief’s response duties from mayor’s office work, expand staffing for perimeter security and establish a preapproved drone protocol for mass-casualty and active-suspect events.
The report concluded that officers’ immediate action made a difference and other parts of the public safety response need to be resourced at that same level of urgency.
