Seattle police are investigating a shooting in the Bitter Lake area that left a 20-year-old woman in critical condition.
Seattle police are investigating a shooting in the Bitter Lake area that left a 20-year-old woman in critical condition.
The shooting happened shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of North 125th Street and Aurora Avenue North, near a Lowe’s Home Improvement store.
Detectives said the incident began with a fight between a woman and a man at a nearby hotel. They both left separately, police said. The woman was later walking along Aurora when the man pulled up in a black SUV and shot her, then sped off.
"I'm going to send prayers for that lady that got shot last night," said Cody Birgley, who lives in the area. "There's been a lot of cops out. They keep the area pretty safe. There are just bad spots, bad spots in every town."
The woman suffered critical injuries after being shot in the abdomen. As of the latest update, the suspect had not been arrested.
The shooting is the latest incident along the Aurora corridor, an area that has been a hot spot for gun violence and sex trafficking.
At a safety meeting Wednesday at Seattle’s North Precinct, neighbors pleaded with city leaders for help.
Al Rosenthal, a commercial property owner in Seattle who attended that public safety meeting, said Washington should adopt a measure in place in Massachusetts to address gun violence.
Carrying a concealed firearm without a valid Massachusetts permit carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 18 months behind bars.
"Massachusetts has about half of the gun crime that we have and they have about one third of the deaths that we have," Rosenthal said. "Make it one-year mandatory for carrying a concealed gun without a permit. What that does is it makes the bad actors afraid to go out with their guns because if they just get caught, they'll get time in jail just for carrying a gun."
Mayor Katie Wilson told attendees at that community meeting that she is committed to hiring a new police chief by the end of the year to direct public safety efforts.
Wilson also said Seattle police may be understaffed to tackle prostitution cases in particular because they require extensive evidence to prosecute. She said she has made it a priority to have a larger police force next year and will avoid making cuts to outreach services.
"If we're arresting people, and taking them to the jail, what happens then," Wilson said. "The fact is often they're right back out on the street in a couple of days, because we don't have a meaningful pathway where we can try to get people into a better situation."
Next week, the Seattle City Council's Public Safety Committee will vote on a resolution to partner with national experts who have helped other cities significantly reduce gun violence, such as the National Network for Safe Communities (NNSC) at John Jay College.
The NNSC uses an evidence-based focused deterrence strategy that has a proven track record of helping cities reduce gun violence by up to 40 to 60 percent. The proposed two-year partnership would cost $418,000, and would provide assistance to implement a comprehensive strategy to address gun violence.
A related issue involves juveniles who are caught illegally possessing guns. Under Washington law, it takes five convictions before a youth can be held for longer than 30 days at a state Juvenile Rehabilitation program. Prior to that, violations are handled through local sanctions.
King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion has said that waiting for a teen to have a fifth illegal handgun conviction before meaningful intervention can be dangerous for them, their family, and the community. Those youth often end up in adult court facing murder or assault charges before that fifth conviction arrives. Some end up being killed.
Manion has advocated for earlier intervention to correct a teen's bad behavior before there is a worse tragedy. Moving a youth to Juvenile Rehabilitation eligibility after three unlawful gun possession convictions offers a better opportunity to change the trajectory, according to Manion.
The prosecutor's take is that if the first two attempts with local sanctions didn’t change behaviors, then doing the same thing two more times is unlikely to make a difference.
