In October, CHS reported that the summer had only made things worse — 2021’s gun violence surge climbed higher with the numbers from the summer months staying above recent averages. Now the final three months of the year are accounted for and the totals for 2021 will mark a terrible new high.

According to the report from the King County Prosecutor’s office, while shots fired incidents recorded were up about 26%, 88 people died in shootings across the county in 2021, a 64% increase over recent averages.

The shootings and deaths disproportionately impact people of color and particularly young Black men, the prosecutor’s office said:

Of the 460 shooting victims in 2021:

• • 81% of the shooting victims (379 people) were people of color
  • Nearly half (48% or 225 people) of all shooting victims were Black or African American
  • 85% of the shooting victims (390 people) were men
  • 28% of the shooting victims (133 people) were between 18-24

“The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office report, which is the most comprehensive gun violence analysis available in King County, makes clear what many of us know anecdotally: 2021 was a violent year in our community,” King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg said in a statement on the report. “While we have and will continue to prosecute perpetrators of firearm violence, this data analysis is part of our broader, public health approach that is required to achieve lasting reductions of firearm violence.”

In July, CHS reported on Seattle officials responding to a weekend of deadly gun violence in the city with calls for strengthening community-led programs and the police department’s budget, forgoing past efforts like emphasis patrols and greater on the street presence of officers.

During his campaign, Mayor Bruce Harrell said he would create a role in his office “to coordinate action and intervention” and work with law enforcement, while investing more in “effective community-led programs that have street-level knowledge and relationships to defuse potentially violent situations.” Harrell said he also supports spending on “Automatic Gunfire Locator Systems” and would support Seattle’s “fight at the state and federal levels for stronger gun laws.”

In December, Harrell named DeVitta Briscoe whose brother Che Taylor was shot and killed by Seattle police in 2016, as his office’s gun violence prevention liaison. Briscoe lost her son to gun violence and is an advocate for gun safety and intervention. New City Attorney Ann Davison, meanwhile, has said her goals include increased prosecution of misdemeanors in Seattle including many firearms related charges.

Satterberg, meanwhile, has announced his plan to retire leaving a wide open race for his office headed into the fall election.

In the announcement on the report, Satterberg’s office acknowledges that the gun violence increases “are not unique to King County.”

“Nearly every major city, and many rural areas, have seen an increase in firearm violence since the start of 2020,” the office’s statement reads. “There is no single explanation behind the increase, but the common explanations of the pandemic, the effects of shut down social services on individual and community health, and the prevalence of guns are all likely contributing factors.”

2022, meanwhile, has already tallied a shooting death in the area after 36-year-old Michael Darden was shot and killed in an argument stemming from a domestic dispute inside his Central District apartment.

You can review the full report and reports from past years here.

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