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Community meeting called after more 23/Union gunfire

With tensions over change and displacement in the Central District boiling over in evictions, protests, and scuffles, neighbors are asking for more to be done after another bout of gun violence near 23rd and Union.

Police received a flood of 911 calls Monday night just before 7:30 PM reporting multiple gunshots and two vehicles seen fleeing the area. Arriving officers found shell casings near Marion and damage to houses in the area but, fortunately, no injuries.

In the wake of the incident, Sara Mae Brereton, owner of 23rd and Cherry’s 701 Coffee, posted a call for a community meeting to “stop the shootings” and calling on Mayor Ed Murray and District 3 representative Kshama Sawant to respond to the ongoing violence.

Stop the Shooting, Stop the Hate CD Community Meeting

Monday’s driveby shootout was the latest in a string of gunfire incidents along 23rd Ave from Jackson to Union.

Friday, March 10th just before 5 PM, SPD received multiple reports of gunfire around MLK and Jackson but found only a car with a shattered window, KOMO reported. That Sunday night, neighbors were worried about a report of gunfire near 23rd and Cherry but, according to police radio dispatches, only one caller reported the sound of a possible shot. Earlier in March, CHS reported on a gunfire incident near Garfield High School. Midtown Center, meanwhile, ended 2016 with a spate of shootings. Two December incidents one involving gunfire and the other a reported shootout were the latest bouts of gun violence on the property. In October, police investigated two shootings inside Midtown that left two men injured under nearly identical circumstances.

The most recent SPD Sea Stat statistical report (PDF) shows the reports of shots fired so far in 2017 to be in line with recent years but a marked increase in shootings across the city.

Thursday night also brings the March meeting of the East Precinct Advisory Council, a monthly meeting where neighborhood crime issues can be discussed with SPD representatives.

EastPAC Community Meeting

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Sean
Sean
7 years ago

Good luck getting Sawant’s attention, she isn’t big on issues of her own district. Not national enough. As to “recent tensions”, where were these concerned people as the CD was being gentrified and minority families were being priced out? Coming to the aid of one vocal, fringe individual who had been squatting in a property isn’t really concern for the community.

MixteFeelings
MixteFeelings
7 years ago
Reply to  Sean

“Sawant doesn’t care about D3.” That’s getting to be a tired narrative that just doesn’t hold up.
I guess we’ll see how much D3 agrees next time she’s up for re-elex. I’m personally pretty happy with how she’s represented the district so far, and most of the folks I know feel the same.

Sara
Sara
7 years ago

Midtown Center needs to go away, Soon.
I was there yesterday and felt intimidated but the looming presence of what appeared to be gang members outside of the post office, I am so tired of this crap.

SJW Pants
SJW Pants
7 years ago

Damn yuppies.

Upzone please
Upzone please
7 years ago

I was walking along that area with my kid around 6:20/30 yesterday. Say what you will about the yuppies, but they arent going to be doing drive bys in the streets. Lets welcome the yuppies with open arms everyone.

SJW Pants
SJW Pants
7 years ago
Reply to  Upzone please

That’s right, yuppies just hire lawyers to settle beefs.

Brenda
Brenda
7 years ago

Isn’t this part of the neighborhood character everyone is trying to save? The good old 23rd and Union with shootings and drug dealers and fewer yuppies?

Curious
Curious
7 years ago

I wonder if the shooters and shootings that take place are from long-term residents or newcomers? Perhaps someone can enlighten us about those arrested on such charges. And in any case, how those who bemoan changes defend the gun violence that is conducted by those who make up part of their community. People are very vocal about Ike’s and perceived gentrification. How many hours have they spent protesting in front of known gang and drug hangouts and homes? How many demonstrations against violence in their own communities? Bring on the condos, market rate apartments and anything else that leads to less shots fired.

Down there
Down there
7 years ago
Reply to  Curious

“How many hours have they spent protesting in front of known gang and drug hangouts and homes?”

None. They have spent zero hours on that. Never have, never will. Ever. It’s much easier to parade up the street and scream in the parking lot of a legitimate business.

RWK
RWK
7 years ago
Reply to  Curious

The redevelopment of the Midtown Center will surely be a positive for the community, but one has to wonder if it will really mean less violence. Do gangbangers care if they are using their guns near a spiffy new building vs. an old run-down one? The problems of guns and violence in the CD are much deeper than just what the area looks like.

Anna
Anna
7 years ago
Reply to  Curious

I think the reason for all the shootings around the Midtown Center is because it’s a hotspot hangout. Tons of people congregate there, pump music, smoke and it’s a known thing. People know where to “go” to find someone.

When there is no unmonitored parking lot to hang out in, I doubt shootings will be an issue. It unfortunately will move to another location, just like the drug trade after the DMI.

I’m tired of dodging bullets and telling my kids to duck. It’s not a normal thing but strangely it feels normal now.

Jim98122x
Jim98122x
7 years ago

Not sure why anyone thinks the gang members who engaged in this shooting give a crap about the calls to “stop the hate!”. It’s not hate, it’s crime and gangs. They probably don’t even live in the CD, either. Good luck. But it’ll give Savant another soap box to rant about without really doing anything, so hey– it’s all good.

David Holmes
David Holmes
7 years ago

Is there something specific about Midtown Center that attracts violence? And, if so, why doesn’t the SPD focus on that? I didn’t even realize there were still businesses inside that building, or that it was even occupied.

In 2017, I don’t really get what would be appealing to a gang member at 23rd and Union, because from the sidewalk those blocks look way more Seattle hipster than a hive of criminal activity. Maybe (let’s hope) it’s just behavioral inertia that will quietly fade out after Midtown disappears. My neighbors have told me that 23rd and Madison experienced a similar trajectory.

SJW Pants
SJW Pants
7 years ago

That’s nothing, I saw two white yoga moms beefing it out over a parking spot out front of Feed Co. One of them dissed the others Subaru Forester for being “too showy”, and the other one yelled back some ugly slur but about gluten or something.

It went downhill from there.

It’s getting ugly out there folks.

Cd resident
Cd resident
7 years ago

The irony of this particular cd resident calling for an end to gun violence is lost in no one.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.seattlepi.com/local/amp/Woman-who-shot-man-at-bus-stop-won-t-be-charged-891425.php

Jim98122x
Jim98122x
7 years ago
Reply to  Cd resident

I’m no fan of guns, but I’d hardly say that proves your point.

Sean
Sean
7 years ago

Midtown Center has been a gathering point for years and years. But as long as tech workers and hipsters want to buy and consume drugs there will be gangs active in the area and gangs will fight each other. Your choice on how this plays out. Supply and demand and the violence that goes with it.

Sloopy
Sloopy
7 years ago
Reply to  Sean

Good to know that tech workers and hipsters are the cause of the drug trade. I think you would be better off not stereotyping those groups. (Also, most tech workers and hipsters probably don’t buy their drugs on a street corner).

There is a demand for drugs that crosses cultural and economic boundaries, and for that, there will be drug dealers. Unless we legalize.

haha
haha
7 years ago
Reply to  Sean

– So hipsters and tech workers are the reason that CD gangs have been selling drugs and shooting each other there since the 80s? You are hilarious. Are tech worker also responsible for those gangs selling crack and pimping out young girls? Yeah, that makes sense. You should run for city council.

Weirdwood
Weirdwood
7 years ago

I lived under those 3 trees behind Midtown Center all summer.. I document it in a series of ongoing multimedia projects called #weirdwood
https://youtu.be/vRhKtY1l5aE