Newly released messages from the night of the deadly Bite of Seattle shooting show city officials struggling to coordinate public information as people waited f
Newly released messages from the night of the deadly Bite of Seattle shooting show city officials struggling to coordinate public information as people waited for word on whether more gunmen were still at large.
The messages, released by the mayor’s office, reveal frustration between Mayor Katie Wilson’s staff and the Seattle Police Department after shots were fired shortly after 6 p.m. at Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle festival.
Three people were killed, and several others were wounded in the shooting, including a 2-year-old boy.
By 7:20 p.m., messages show Wilson’s communications staff knew the number of victims and deaths, as well as who was in custody and how many additional suspects were being sought. That information was not publicly released for hours.
At 8:30 p.m., Jonah Spangenthal-Lee, a senior communications staffer for the mayor, pressed police officials for an update.
“It’s been two hours since you guys posted anything? Even some tweets at this point,” he wrote to Seattle police Chief Operations Officer Sara Smith.
Smith replied that officers were actively handling the situation and dealing with media at the scene. But reporters stationed at a designated media area said they were not receiving briefings or direct information.
Ten minutes later, Spangenthal-Lee wrote in an internal Teams chat that it was “embarrassing” that police had waited hours to release information, calling the response a “massive disaster and hit to public trust.”
The mayor’s office later posted an online statement that incorrectly said two suspects had been apprehended.
The records also show prolonged debate within the mayor’s office over whether Wilson should go to Seattle Center. Alison Holcomb, the mayor’s public safety director, initially cautioned against elected officials drawing attention to themselves at a trauma scene before more details were known.
Wilson, however, grew concerned about the absence of public information and the possibility that reporters would portray her as missing from the response.
“We should consider whether I should come down and talk to KOMO, if that expectation has been created,” Wilson wrote. “I’m sure they would love to spin an ‘absent mayor’ story.”
Holcomb later contacted police and asked them to delay a planned 9:45 p.m. briefing until the mayor could arrive, according to the messages. The news conference began near 11 p.m.
The messages also raise questions about why the city did not activate AlertSeattle, its emergency notification system, as thousands of people left Seattle Center and others tried to determine whether the danger had passed.
In messages sent the following day, Spangenthal-Lee wrote that the city needed to rethink how it uses AlertSeattle because “right now it’s everyone’s job and no one’s job.”
Wilson initially defended the decision not to use AlertSeattle, saying the city was focused on releasing accurate information through regular channels and avoiding unnecessary fear and confusion.
She has since ordered the city’s Office of Inspector General to conduct an independent after-action review of the public communications response. The review is expected to examine the timeline of information released to the public, identify delays and make recommendations for future emergencies.
Holcomb said the review will cover “all actions by all offices, all departments,” which includes the mayor’s office.
The released messages were sent or received by Wilson’s staff and do not include former Police Chief Shon Barnes’ text messages from that night. Barnes has said he did not know who made the decision to delay the news conference.
Seattle police are expected to face questions from the City Council about the response in the coming weeks.
