Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and interim Police Chief Sayles acknowledged Tuesday that the city failed to provide fast, clear information after the mass shooting
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and interim Police Chief Sayles acknowledged Tuesday that the city failed to provide fast, clear information after the mass shooting at Bite of Seattle that killed three people and wounded four others.
The city did not identify who was responsible for the roughly five-hour gap in public information the night of the shooting. Instead, Wilson and Sayles pointed to an ongoing Office of Inspector General review and announced new communication protocols for major incidents.
“Seattle deserves clear and fast information in an emergency, and we fell short of that,” Wilson said. “So we are fixing that.”
The comments came a day after a [KOMO News exclusive interview with former Seattle Police Chief Barnes], who said he did not order the delay in public information and did not know why Wilson asked for his resignation days after the shooting.
Wilson declined to discuss details surrounding Barnes’ departure, calling it a personnel matter.
“I will say, in making that decision, I judged that that was the right call for public safety, for the Police Department and for the city,” Wilson said.
Asked whether she provided the City Council with the written explanation required under the City Charter, Wilson said the city followed all required procedures.
Wilson said there was a brief delay between about 9:45 p.m. and 10:45 p.m. while officials waited for Gov. Bob Ferguson and U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal to arrive for a news conference.
She said, however, that the hourlong delay before the news conference should be separated from the broader failure to provide critical safety information to the public during the rest of the night.
KOMO News asked Wilson whether she or anyone in her office knew about or approved the five-hour delay. Wilson did not directly answer.
“There were significant communication gaps on the night of the Bite of Seattle tragedy,” she said.
Wilson said the city should have used AlertSeattle and other communication channels to tell the public whether they were safe and whether a suspect remained at large.
“That’s exactly what the updates we’ve been working on are designed to address,” Wilson said.
Asked whether Seattle police Detective Brian Pritchard was correct when he said the city’s account of the delay was inaccurate, Wilson declined to answer.
Sayles said he had not spoken directly with Pritchard but had been working with others who were at the scene. He said he would likely speak with Pritchard, though he was not certain whether that information would be publicly released.
New communication protocols announced
Wilson and Sayles announced several changes aimed at improving the city’s response to major incidents:
- A media briefing will be held within one hour of a major incident, when it is safe to do so.
- The department will limit how many command staff members can be off at the same time.
- The Police Department and mayor’s office will establish a stronger communication pipeline.
- The city will use AlertSeattle to notify the public of urgent safety information.
- The city will also use social media to communicate with the public during emergencies.
Wilson said responsibility for the communication breakdown was shared between the Police Department and her office.
“I think it’s shared responsibility, and that’s why we’ve been working together to make sure those communication gaps do not happen moving forward,” she said.
More than a month after the shooting, Sayles said detectives have reviewed about 450 hours of video and served multiple search warrants.
Asked whether one or two people remain outstanding, Sayles said investigators are still reviewing evidence but that he could “probably say there are two.”
The Office of Inspector General is reviewing the city’s response to the shooting and is expected to release its report in December.
The continuing questions over communication failures and the political fallout surrounding Barnes’ departure have overshadowed the three people killed and four others wounded in the shooting.
