Seattle Police detectives are investigating after two shooting incidents Tuesday night in the Central District with no reported injuries.
The shooting incidents join a string of gun violence in the area including three King County shootings this week that left multiple victims and one Bothell police officer dead.
In one incident Tuesday night at 21st and Union, witnesses said a fight or argument in the street was followed by multiple shots fired. Police reported no injuries in the 6:45 PM gunfire and said four shell casings were recovered on the southwest corner of the intersection, according to East Precinct radio updates. Later around 8 PM, gunfire sent people running and speeding away from Powell Barnett Park along MLK. There were no reported injuries.
Those incidents follow a weekend shots fired incident at the Yesler Community Center that also did not injure anybody despite at least one bullet reported entering a nearby residence.
The spike in gun violence echoes past summers across the Central District and the Capitol Hill nightlife areas and Cal Anderson and comes after Mayor Jenny Durkan ordered the Capitol Hill protest zone camp swept and cleared on July 1st after a string of shootings that left two teens dead.
It also comes as city leaders wage a heated political battle over how much to cut the Seattle Police Department budget as the COVID-19 crisis pinches finances and protesters, activists, and community groups call for a major shift in how the city is policed.
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There have been so many shootings at Powell Barnett park I think the city should put up a sign for parents who take their kids there. Anyone can stop by with their kids and not know this park is a common place for shootings. I live not far and I do not take my kid here. I once took my kid to whale tail park on Alki on a saturday – and watched as little kids, including my own, fled a shooting taking place right in the park. I do not wish that experience on anyone. Post a sign so un-knowing parents don’t bring their kids there – it is no place for children. Sadly. Not that anyone should be playing there now anyway.
Needs more gentrification apparently.
There has been a marked surge in violent crime in many cities (New York, Chicago etc) and now Seattle. There was a very interesting discussion of this on CNN (Don Lemon’s show) a couple of nights ago, and at least some of the problem seems to be that many felons are being released from prison because of the covid crisis, and they are then re-offending. It’s more complicated than that alone, but it seems to be a significant factor.