Harrell, Chief Diaz respond with more police, calls for change in state gun restrictions after student shot and woman killed in 23rd Ave gun violence

A bullet hole and shattered safety glass in the Metro bus stop in front of GHS (Images: CHS)

There are again more police and private security in place around Garfield High, the largest public high school serving Seattle’s Central District and Capitol Hill, after area gun violence injured a student at a 23rd Ave bus stop and left a woman dead on the sidewalk earlier this week.

Parents and the community are looking for a larger response as city officials and Seattle Police Department leadership say they are doing everything they can to make the area safer and solve the crimes.

SPD Chief Adrian Diaz told the audience at a Thursday night public safety forum held at the city’s central library that he expects “resolution soon” in the Wednesday afternoon shootout between two vehicles that sent a 17-year-old Garfield student caught in the crossfire to the hospital with a serious injury to her leg and left bullet holes and shattered glass amid crowds of students leaving campus for the day.

Investigative prospects are more dim for bringing justice in the shooting that followed hours later and only blocks away that left a woman in her 30s dead on the sidewalk at 23rd and Main.

Police have said they do not believe the shootings are related but have limited evidence from the slaying that took place on the backside of the busy AutoZone parking lot. Diaz said Thursday night the S Main killing happened just around the corner from a stepped up police presence at 23rd and Jackson following the Garfield shooting and only a block from the “Mobile Precinct” truck and camera system the department has parked in the lot since last fall’s driveby shooting that damaged a childcare center full of children and brought community calls for more to be done to address public safety issues in the area.

The killing happened despite the increased number of officers in the area. The deadly gunshots could be clearly heard during an officer’s radio call with East Precinct dispatch as police were making a delayed response to a reported altercation in the area. Continue reading

On day of gun violence in the Central District, woman shot and killed near 23rd and Jackson

A woman was shot and killed Wednesday night on S Main just blocks from a shooting earlier in the day outside Garfield High School and around the corner from where an October 2023 driveby damaged a child care center and brought citywide attention to ongoing gun violence around 23rd and Jackson.

The Seattle Police Department says the woman was found down on the sidewalk along S Main near 24th Ave after gunfire was heard by police in the area just after 8 PM. The gunshots could be heard clearly during an officer’s radio call with dispatch.

Police were called to 23rd and Jackson earlier in the night to a reported assault related to the shooting.

Arriving officers attempted life-saving measures until Seattle Fire Department arrived. “Despite all life-saving efforts, the woman died at the scene,” SPD reports. Continue reading

Murder investigation in the Central District as shooting victim dies — UPDATE

Police say they are now investigating a recent shooting of a 28-year-old in the Central District as a homicide.

Seattle Police announced Tuesday that the victim in a January 28th shooting near 20th and Jefferson later died at Harborview from his injuries.

Authorities have not yet identified the man pending notification of kin. UPDATE: The medical examiner have identified the 28-year-old as Corey Baron.

Continue reading

Garfield Super Block design taking shape for 2025 construction with Pillars of Promise artists selection, community open house

Artists have been selected for some key elements of the project as the neighborhood will gather for a community open house Thursday to see the latest updates to the $8.4 million plan to complete the Garfield Super Block and add new public art, renovate the park, add new play areas, and create a new promenade for this core of the Central District.

“During this meeting, you’ll have an opportunity to meet with the project team to ask questions and learn more about future site plans for the project,” Seattle Parks says about Thursday’s 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM gathering at the Garfield Community Center that will eventually be in the center of the project.

Seattle Parks says the Garfield Super Block has reached a “60%” design milestone. Construction had been hoped to begin by summer but is now listed as a 2025 by the city.

CHS reported here on the Garfield Super Block Coalition effort to lead the project hoped to reflect the history and cultures of the Central District including eight public art pieces with seven pieces being from different ethnic groups including the Duwamish, Jewish, African-American, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Italian communities that have helped shape the neighborhood. The final piece will be a collaborative piece from all seven ethnic groups.

The art will join the Legacy and Promise Promenade, a pathway fulfilling a long-envisioned goal of connecting Horace Mann School, now home to Nova High School, just on the other side of Cherry, with the Quincy Jones Performing Arts Center in the center of the Garfield High School campus.

The coalition has announced the artists selected to contribute to some of the key elements of the Super Block with additional artists to be announced later this year. Continue reading

One shot in arm in 24th Ave shootout on deadly night of gun violence in Seattle — UPDATE

Seattle Police investigated an apparent shootout that left one person with non-life threatening injuries near 24th Ave and Columbia on a night of gun violence around the city including a fatal shooting in the International District.

Multiple callers reported shots fired in the Central District around 10:45 PM Wednesday. Arriving officers found one person with a gunshot injury to the arm and shell casings from multiple weapons on the ground, according to East Precinct radio updates.

Seattle Fire was called to the scene to treat the male patient who was transported by private ambulance in stable condition for further treatment. Continue reading

Hollingsworth holds first community public safety meeting: a letter to the liquor board over ‘lewd conduct’ inspections, a check on East Precinct response times, and addressing gun violence with jobs and counseling

A community public safety meeting organized by the office of newly elected District 3 Seattle City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth after a shooting earlier this month at 23rd and Union took on issues far beyond the Central District neighborhood Tuesday night.

Hollingsworth said Tuesday inside an unfinished restaurant space in the Midtown Square development where the meeting was held that she is starting her term at the council asking questions and digging into D3 concerns like the liquor control board’s “lewd conduct” inspections at a handful of Capitol Hill gay bars and clubs.

A question at Tuesday’s meeting is why this kind of enforcement is a priority — especially given other public safety needs and the history of violent police raids targeting queer venues.

“There were ten bars, and four happened to be LGBTQ,” Hollingsworth said.

Hollingsworth said Tuesday she has written a letter to the liquor and cannabis board and is asking for an explanation.

“I’m trying to get public safety to be a nonpartisan issue,” Hollingsworth said Tuesday.

The meeting touched on safety issues across D3 but focused especially on ongoing gun violence and recent shootings, including an instance when blew out Midtown Square apartment windows earlier this month. Some community members emphasized the need for a stronger police officer presence, while others wanted to address violence in a proactive way rather than reactive.

“We have seen a significant amount of gun violence,” Hollingsworth said. “This is a reaction to the stuff that’s been going on in our district.”

CHS reported on this Cherry Hill shooting Sunday night, and the January 23rd shooting that left one person hospitalized. Hollingsworth ran her campaign with a focus on public safety, and is making it a priority in office after a record number of homicides in 2023.

“Most of the emails we get in from our email box is [about] public safety,” Hollingsworth said. Continue reading

Hollingsworth holding 23rd & Union Public Safety Meeting over area gun violence

An image from Hollingsworth’s first newsletter of the councilmember with Victoria Beach who recently retired as chair of SPD’s African American Advisory Council

Newly elected District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth will host “a candid conversation about community safety in the Central District” Tuesday night.

Hollingsworth announced the “23rd & Union Public Safety Meeting” during a Monday briefing of the Seattle City Council.

23rd & Union Public Safety Meeting With Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth

Come join Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth at the intersection of 23rd Avenue and E. Union Street for a candid conversation about community safety in the Central District.

Tuesday, January 30th 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Midtown Square
2301 East Union Street

The session was organized following this nighttime Wednesday, January 23rd shooting incident that sent one person to the hospital and bullets flying into at least two nearby apartment windows at the Midtown Square mixed-use development on the southeast corner of 23rd and Union. Continue reading

Man reported shot in head in E Jefferson shooting

A man was reported shot in the head inside a vehicle near 20th and Jefferson just east of the Swedish Cherry Hill hospital Sunday night.

Seattle Police and Seattle Fire were called to the area in the 1900 block of E Jefferson just before 9:15 PM to a report of a male shot in the head.

Police were searching the area for possible suspects and a vehicle reported leaving the scene. Officers from areas outside the East Precinct were called in to assist with the search. There were no reported immediate arrests.

Seattle Fire provided aid at the scene before transporting the patient to Harborview. SPD reported the person shot was in critical condition.

UPDATE: SPD’s brief on the incident reports the 28-year-old was shot while driving on E Jefferson but says “the exact circumstances leading up to the shooting are unknown” —

Police learned the victim was driving westbound on East Jefferson past 21st Avenue when shots rang out. Passengers told police they thought the vehicle struck something in the road until they realized the driver had been shot. Homicide detectives and officers assigned to the Crime Scene Investigation unit responded to the scene. The Homicide unit will be leading the investigation. The exact circumstances leading up to the shooting are unknown and officers have not identified any suspects. If anyone has information about this incident, please call SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.

 

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Capitol Hill’s MariPili and Central District’s Communion make James Beard 2024 best PNW chefs list

Two Capitol Hill and Central District chefs have made the list as semifinalists for the James Beard award for Best Chefs: Northwest and Pacific. The nominations alone are an honor and a good reminder you should stop by soon.

In the Central District, Kristi Brown of Communion has been honored as a best chef semifinalist. Continue reading

Black Coffee Northwest, already a presence in the neighborhood, making plans for opening at 23rd and Jackson

A rendering of the new signage at Black Coffee Northwest

Things are rounding into form and improvements like a pour of new concrete are taking shape as Black Coffee Northwest prepares to put this important Central District corner back into full motion.

Black Coffee Northwest’s Central District location at 23rd and Jackson is planned to open at the end of February, but ongoing construction may push the opening towards early March. A primary challenge of getting this location up-and-running has been building a small business out-of-pocket. Darnesha Weary said the community enthusiasm for the new cafe is strong but meeting capital needs has been a slow climb.

“We’re feeling that. We’re feeling all of the data on how Black businesses get less access to capital,” Weary said. “The city has been really helpful. The Office of Economic Development, they have funded the majority of our project, which is really great.” Continue reading