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

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

Garfield High School receives $500K mental health services funding boost from city

Garfield High School, the largest public high school serving Capitol Hill and the Central District, has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the city’s Department of Education and Early Learning to bolster the 23rd Ave campus’s mental health services.

The school says the funding will help add an additional full-time mental health professional based at the Garfield Teen Health Center operated by Seattle Children’s/Odessa Brown Clinic. As part of the grand, University of Washington doctoral students in psychiatry will also do field work at Garfield and a staff member from the Urban League will help manage and coordinate the new resources. Continue reading

Police investigate after reported armed robbery near Garfield High School

Seattle Police were tracking down teenage suspects and Garfield High School went into a brief “shelter in place” lockdown Thursday after a reported armed robbery near the Central District campus involving juvenile victims.

According to East Precinct radio updates, police were called to 22nd and Jefferson around 12:30 PM to a reported robbery involving a group of young suspects including at least one who appeared to have a firearm in his waistband.

Police were in the process of contacting possible suspects around the busy campus and students on the move for lunch. At least one juvenile suspect was identified during a traffic stop. Police were looking for phones possible stolen by the group. Continue reading

Garfield gun violence updates: Chief Diaz attends school safety meeting, district providing increased security, SPD seeks help identifying teens from parking lot shooting

SPD says it is looking for information to help identify the two teen suspects in the Garfield parking lot shooting — SPD reports the teens “had a verbal altercation prior to the shooting incident. The male in the orange hoodie entered a white sedan type vehicle and fired multiple shots from the car. The male in the black hoodie ran after the suspect vehicle and pointed a gun at it before running towards the baseball field.” Call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000 if you have information.

The Seattle Police Department is asking for the community’s assistance in identifying two teen gunmen who police say opened fire in a late afternoon shooting that left a third teen injured Thursday, May 18th in the Garfield High School parking lot and the campus Teen Life Center.

SPD released the photos Wednesday following a Monday night campus safety meeting attended by Chief Adrian Diaz organized by school families and officials over ongoing gun violence in the area. The East Precinct says it has boosted patrols in the area of the school.

Arrests were not a major focus of Monday’s meeting as officials tried to answer questions about improving safety and providing community and after school resources for teens as well as resources to help organize volunteer safety walks around the school. Garfield principal Tarance Hart also discussed existing security resources working inside the school’s buildings as well as new Seattle Public Schools-provided security patrols taking place on campus. Continue reading

East Precinct increases patrols around Garfield High School as students return to campus

Garfield High School students are back in classrooms Monday with increase Seattle Police presence in the area after a one-day shift to virtual instruction due to concerns about ongoing gun violence around the 23rd Ave school.

Friday, Garfield held classes via online systems, a shift back to the virtual learning of the pandemic, after a threat at Garfield and a shooting a mile and a half away from the school prompted officials to close the campus and send students home early on Thursday.

The school’s PTSA has called for a meeting on campus safety that will take place Monday night.

Friday afternoon, SPD announced it would increase officer presence in the area of Garfield with “a patrol emphasis in the area.”

The Seattle Police Department has been diligent in working closely with the Seattle School District to identify and address the ongoing disputes resulting in violence around Garfield High School. The department will be starting a patrol emphasis in the area to provide police presence to assist in protecting public safety in the community, deter possible criminal activity, prevent violence, and address suspicious behavior seen and or reported.

Continue reading

Increasing concern about area gun violence shuts down Garfield High School campus

Garfield High School (Image: Seattle Public Schools)

Concerns around an afternoon shooting in a reported First Hill street robbery a mile and a half away from the Central District campus appear to have been behind the closure of Garfield High in the middle of the school day Thursday as officials are on edge after a series of recent shootings around the school.

Officials say they will hold a campus safety meeting with families next week.

Seattle Public Schools says its officials decided to close the 23rd Ave campus and send students home Thursday at 2 PM and keep the school closed Friday “out of an abundance of caution” and were “investigating a threat to the area that could affect the school’s standard dismissal time.”

“Today, we closed school early due to threats that appeared to be related to dismissal time and after school. Seattle Police Department and SPS Security were on campus and in the neighborhood during our early dismissal,” a message to families from Garfield principal Tarance Hart reads. “No incidents were seen or reported.”

The closure came after what Seattle Police said was a reported street robbery attempt that left a man shot in the leg outside a First Hill Key Bank around 12:40 PM — an incident more than a mile away from the school. According to East Precinct radio updates, the shooting prompted a series of school lockdowns in the immediate area including at Seattle University and also generated at least one rumor of a school shooting at a nearby private school campus. Police investigated and found that rumor unwarranted.

At Garfield, students reported police had already been on the campus earlier Thursday before the First Hill shooting for an unknown investigation.

After the gunfire on First Hill, the decision was made to close the Central District school where gun violence concerns have been heightened after a series of shootings near the Garfield campus. Continue reading

Man reported shot in chest in more gun violence near Garfield

A man was reported shot multiple times in the chest and a handgun was recovered at the scene after a shooting Friday night at 25th and Jefferson in a string of gun violence that has continued in the area around Garfield High School.

According to East Precinct and Seattle Fire radio updates, the shooting took place just before 10 PM. Arriving officers reported finding the 29-year-old victim with gunshot wounds to his chest. Police also found a firearm on the pavement at the shooting scene. Continue reading

Teen arrives at hospital after another shooting near Garfield High School — UPDATE

For the second time in a week, a shooting around Garfield High School left a teen injured and the school on an after-the-bell lockdown.

According to East Precinct radio updates, gunfire was reported just before 5:30 PM near 26th and Jefferson behind the school. Arriving officers found shell casings and were looking for suspects reported fleeing on foot and a vehicle with bullet damage reported leaving the area. Continue reading

Garfield Super Block selected in catch-up round of Neighborhood Street Fund grants

(Image: Garfield Super Block)

Backers of an effort to improve the public space around Garfield High School and the Garfield Community Center are celebrating another funding win for the Central District project.

A Seattle transportation levy oversight committee has chosen the Garfield Super Block program for a $475,000 grant in the latest round of the Neighborhood Street Fund. Unlike past years, this year’s process focused on clearing a backlog of NSF nominations. The project was one of nine selected by the committee on the basis of community support, equity, safety, and cost, and the only one in the bunch located within Kshama Sawant’s District 3.

The funding joins past financial infusions into the effort including $188,000 to help support planning in last year’s city budget. Estimates of the full cost of planning and construction for the Garfield Super Block project range around $6 to $7 million. Continue reading