Mayor Katie Wilson said Tuesday that Seattle will announce a gun violence prevention strategy next week after three people were killed and four others were woun
Mayor Katie Wilson said Tuesday that Seattle will announce a gun violence prevention strategy next week after three people were killed and four others were wounded in a series of shootings in and near the Belltown neighborhood over the Labor Day weekend.
“This weekend is tragic and unacceptable,” Wilson said in a statement.
She said the city would focus on community violence intervention, focused deterrence, public safety and public health investments, while proposing additional staffing to support gun violence prevention work.
Wilson's full statement reads:
"What happened in Belltown this weekend is tragic and unacceptable. Three young people lost their lives, three others were seriously hurt, and countless neighbors were shaken awake by gunshots, street racing, sirens, or another painful headline in the paper. As your Mayor, as a mom, and simply a community member I take this incredibly seriously. We acknowledge the pain and stand with the grief and anger of survivors, victims, and everyone impacted.
Seattle is not unique in facing too much gun violence. Cities across America are suffering, and losing their loved ones and neighbors, to preventable gun violence. That’s why we’re working with our peer cities and the nation’s leading experts to lean into what makes a difference. The data shows us what works – community violence interruption and focused deterrence, investing in public safety as well as public health, and building a resilient economy with good jobs and shared prosperity.
We are making progress, step by step. While any violence is too much violence, it is important to understand that SPD data show shootings and homicides at their lowest in a decade. I, like everyone in Seattle, want to see that progress happen faster and steadier. That’s why we can’t let up in doing the focused, deep work. Next week, I’ll be announcing a comprehensive, focused gun violence prevention strategy to do exactly that – and in the following weeks the public will see my proposed budget that invests in those very things.
Right now, Interim Chief Sayles and Seattle police officers are working diligently to hold those harming others to account and increasing presence in high-crime locations. My office will be announcing additional staffing to support our gun violence prevention work, and pushing our state legislature to pass policies that keep guns off our streets. Progress will require tightly coordinated work across our city departments and with county, state, and community partners, and I’m committed to getting it done.”
Within a 24-hour period starting early Sept. 6, three people were killed and several others injured in 3 seperate shootings in the same neighborhood.
The shootings began shortly after 12:40 a.m. Sunday near Third Avenue and Clay Street, south of the Space Needle, as street racers and spectators gathered for a takeover. Police said a fight involving multiple people preceded gunfire that hit four people. One man later died at Harborview Medical Center, while three others were injured. No arrests have been announced in the case.
About 80 minutes later, police responding to the earlier shooting received reports of another shooting near Third Avenue and Blanchard Street. Officers found a woman with gunshot wounds to her head and torso in a vehicle. She was taken to a hospital, where she died, police said. Investigators said someone fired multiple shots into the car; no arrests have been announced.
A third shooting was reported about 12:30 a.m. Monday at Elliott Avenue and Bell Street near the entrance to a pedestrian bridge leading to Pier 66. Police said a fight preceded the shooting, which killed a 17-year-old and left a 21-year-old man in serious condition at Harborview. Yet again, no arrests have been made.
Interim Police Chief Andre Sayles said the department was working around the clock to investigate the shootings. “We will stand together with our community to bring justice to these victims and their loved ones,” Sayles said in a statement.
Police also activated a website Monday for people to submit video related to the shooting near the Space Needle.
The Seattle City Council’s Public Safety Committee voted to approve a resolution supporting a “focused deterrence” strategy. The plan uses shooting data to identify locations and small groups in some cases gangs connected to the most gun violence in the city, then brings together the city, county, police, community leaders, and service providers to intervene.
“We are talking about saving lives. If these weekend’s events don't compel you to implement this strategy and try it here, I don't know what will,” said Councilmember Maritza Rivera during Tuesday's committee hearing.
Rivera said the strategy is not new and has been used in other cities, including Baltimore, Boston, and Philadelphia, with significant drops in gun violence. She said the need for Seattle to adopt it has become more urgent following the spate of recent fatal shootings.
“Some of these families mourning their children and many still waiting for answers it is unconscionable,” Rivera said.
Rivera was referring to students from Rainier Beach, Garfield, Ingraham and West Seattle high schools lost to gun violence - several of which remain unsolved shootings.
On Monday, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson told a group of reporters during an impromptu interview at a separate event that she supports a focused deterrence strategy. During a brief interview with KOMO News the following day, she shared that a broader gun violence response strategy would be revealed by her office next week.
“We are going to be bringing in someone who will be housed in our CARE department that is going to coordinate some of that gun violence prevention working with our contracted service providers, community-based organizations to make sure that the investments that we are making in community violence interruption and in preventing gun violence in our communities is really coordinated and strategic,” the mayor said Tuesday.
Focused deterrence follows a National Network for Safe Communities model.
Under the approach, officials and community partners engage with those identified through the data most connected to shootings and offer support such as mentoring, jobs, treatment, and housing, while emphasizing that continued violence would result in “swift and certain consequences” from law enforcement. The data identifies locations linked to gun violence too.
“We need to have much better involvement in our communities for our communities to succeed,” said community advocate Craig Thompson, one of a number of residents who attended the Committee's meeting and spoke during the public comment period to ask council to do something about all the recent violence.
“This strategy is an all-hands-on deck approach to addressing gun violence,” Rivera said.
The resolution passed out of committee, and the full council is expected to vote on it next week, likely on Tuesday.
