A key figure in the controversy over Seattle’s response to the mass shooting at Bite of Seattle will not appear before the Seattle City Council’s Public Safety
A key figure in the controversy over Seattle’s response to the mass shooting at Bite of Seattle will not appear before the Seattle City Council’s Public Safety Committee when it meets Tuesday to examine the city’s handling of the incident, including a five-hour gap in public information.
Three people were killed, and four others were injured in the mass shooting, which turned the signature Seattle summer event into a crime scene.
KOMO News confirmed the on-scene Seattle Police Department spokesperson, Detective Brian Pritchard, will not attend the committee meeting.
In an email, SPD said the interim chief will explain why during the meeting Tuesday and added that the detective is on a pre-scheduled vacation booked long before the mass shooting.
The committee is expected to review the shooting response, including event security, changes for the next major event, and the five-hour public communication gap. Vendors and council members have said they want answers, and the council will now be looking to city leaders for those answers.
Ada Tajudeen, a jewelry vendor who was nearby when the shooting started, said there was little information shared with vendors and the public. “There was no communication of what was going on,” Tajudeen said.
In a phone interview, Tajudeen, owner of Zyna Beauty, said one of the hardest parts was not knowing where to be safe. “Without letting people know, you are literally opening Seattle Center while it was at risk for people because they didn't know to stay away,” Tajudeen said.
After the initial post on social media by SPD, there was a five-hour information gap and no activation of AlertSeattle, the city’s emergency notification system used to send safety information to people who sign up.
The day after the shooting, referring to AlertSeattle, Mayor Katie Wilson said, “I'm not sure that’s a tool we use in situations like this.” Last week, she said the opposite, acknowledging the system should have been activated. “AlertSeattle is one specific tool that could have and should have been used in that instance,” the mayor said last Thursday.
Earlier this month, the acting chief told KOMO News he did not know whether Pritchard would attend the council’s Public Safety Committee meeting. The night of the shooting, Pritchard told reporters the briefing was delayed for dignitaries. Later, in a letter obtained by KOMO News in August, Pritchard wrote that the city’s account that the delay was not due to waiting on dignitaries was “inaccurate.”
With Pritchard absent, council members are expected to press other city leaders, including Tyrone Davis, who was the acting chief that night, and Interim Chief Andre Sayles, about why the public waited five hours for answers.
Tajudeen said she has not returned to Seattle Center since the shooting. “I have not been back. Emotionally, I don't feel like it is safe for me to be there,” she said.
She said she hopes the review leads to a stronger emergency communication plan, including robust evacuation procedures. She also remains critical of the venue’s security, saying she ran for her life and returned the next day to find her booth had been looted.
After-action reports from Seattle police and Seattle fire could be available in time for Tuesday’s Public Safety Committee meeting. Depending on the outcome, council members could make policy recommendations for changes and propose budget measures.
