Two people were sent to the hospital, one with life threatening injuries, after a driver sped through a crowd of dozens of Black Lives Matter protesters blocking southbound I-5 early Saturday morning.
The driver has been taken into custody, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Just after 1:30 AM, a white sedan sped into the crowd assembled on the freeway near Yale just north of the Olive Way overpass, careening into at least two protesters in a scene captured by journalists livestreaming the demonstration. Seattle Fire reports the two victims are women in their 20s. One suffered life threatening injuries while the second suffered serious injuries but is reported in stable condition. UPDATE x2: WSP says the victims are a 24-year-old from Seattle and a 32-year-old from Bellingham. UPDATE x3: They have been identified as Summer Taylor, 24, and Diaz Love, 32. Information on how to help is below.
UPDATE 10:00 PM: According to Harborview, Taylor passed away earlier Saturday.
UPDATE 1/6/2021: During Wednesday’s insurrection in the Capitol, many readers have come to this CHS story in search of information about the person who died during the Washington D.C. violence. This story is from June 2020 and reports details of a young man killed during the summer’s protest in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
The protest camp has created a memorial for the 16-year-old on 12th Ave (Image: CHS)
The King County Medical Examiner has identified the 16-year-old shot and killed in a vehicle at the Capitol Hill protest zone early Monday morning as Antonio Mays, Jr..
His family is asking anyone with information to step forward as the family seeks answers to what happened on 12th Ave an in the minutes prior in the early morning shooting that left the 16-year-old dead inside a white Jeep Cherokee and sent a 14-year-old to the hospital in critical condition.
CHS reported on a night of driveby fears and uncertainty as at least one SUV style vehicle sped across Cal Anderson and through the protest camp before the confrontation on 12th Ave that ended in bloodshed. 911 callers reported a person shooting into a vehicle that had crashed along 12th Ave just after 3 AM. Continue reading →
Thanks to a CHS reader for the image of the shooting scene
At least two people were reported shot in a chaotic scene of frightened campers, security volunteers, and heavily armed private security early Monday morning on the edge of the Capitol Hill protest zone.
Seattle Police confirmed the shooting and said there were reports of two people injured.
UPDATE 7:30 AM: Harborview reports one of the victims has died.
UPDATE 9:30 AM: SPD has posted a report on the deadly shooting and says one is dead and a 14-year-old boy injured:
At about 3:00 AM, SPD’s 911 Center received multiple calls of shots fired in the area near 12th Avenue and East Pike Street. Callers also reported observing a white Jeep Cherokee SUV at or near one of the barriers surrounding the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone just prior to the shooting. Callers reported several unidentified people had fired shots into the Jeep. Two injured individuals, presumably the occupants of the Jeep, were transported to Harborview Medical Center in a private vehicle. One of the victims, an unidentified adult male, was later pronounced deceased at the hospital. A second victim, a 14-year-old male, remains hospitalized with gunshot injuries. Detectives searched the Jeep for evidence, but it was clear the crime scene had been disturbed. Detectives responded to the hospital and the crime scene, believed to be on 12th Avenue between East Pike and East Pine Street. This remains an active and on-going investigation.
UPDATE 9:50 AM: In a morning press conference in front of a large group of media and protesters, Chief Carmen Best said it was time to bring CHOP to a close. She said that she does not believe that the streets blockaded by the protest camp may have saved lives in the overnight driveby shootings reported by the protesters.
“I don’t agree. I absolutely don’t agree with that,” Best said. “I’m not going to let the detractors, and the naysayers, and the agitators be the ones who are the voice here. There are people who live here. There are multiple people who are being injured and hurt.”
Chief Best said she was not aware of the reported private security team working around the Car Tender lot at 12th and E Olive but acknowledged that the number of people with guns around the camp was a problem for police.
Best said that nobody is in custody in the latest shooting incident.
The chief said this latest violence should mark the end of the protest camp and it was time to move on. Best said she was not yet ready to discuss a plan for police returning to the East Precinct and she declined to offer more specifics about any SPD efforts to clear the camp after the mayor and Best have been pursuing a strategy of community outreach and social services to help reduce the number of people following last week’s shootings.
“We want people to move out of the area. Continue your peaceful demonstration in a place where you are not affecting public safety.
“I can’t telegraph what’s going to happen. But I can tell you that I think enough is enough, I absolutely do,” Best said.
Best told media that the person killed and the teen who was shot Monday morning are Black.
UPDATE 12:15 PM: SPD announced that the victim who died was 16 years old. People at the scene said the vehicle that was shot up near the camp had been seen earlier in the morning opening fire on tents in Cal Anderson. SPD the 14-year-old is considered a “Victim” at this time. Police say it is presumed both people shot were in the truck.
Overnight, a loud sequence of gunfire was reported just after 3 AM after an incident involving shots from a vehicle at Cal Anderson Park about 90 minutes earlier. There were conflicting reports of anybody injured in the earlier incident in which a vehicle reportedly fired into tents in the area.
911 callers reported a person shooting into a vehicle and at least one person being taken to Harborview by private vehicle. A second person shot was taken to a safe collection area where Seattle Fire then transported the victim to Harborview. Another person reportedly attacked with a pickaxe arrived at Harborview by private vehicle. Continue reading →
The Seattle Police Department is investigating after a string of arson fires across the southern edges of the Central District and South Seattle Tuesday.
Seattle Fire tells CHS that it responded to multiple fires through the day and into the evening Wednesday and investigators have determined that at least six were intentionally set. CHS has mapped the fires where the Seattle Fire Marshal was dispatched to investigate. SFD says more of the fires could turn out to be arsons. Continue reading →
A victim in Tuesday morning’s shooting incidents is loaded in an ambulance at 11th and Denny (Thanks to a CHS reader for the image)
Seattle Fire took one person to the hospital and a possible second shooting victim was rushed by private vehicle to Harborview as Tuesday began with another bout of gun violence on the edges of the Capitol Hill protest camp at Cal Anderson.
Seattle Police confirmed they were responding to a shooting at 11th and Denny early Tuesday and confirmed one person had been shot and taken to the hospital. UPDATE: SPD has posted a brief on the incident saying the victim is a man in his 30s who was not cooperative with police and provided no details of what led to the shooting. SPD says it does not know if there was a second victim.
According to Seattle Police radio updates, police were called to the area on the north end of Cal Anderson near residential apartment buildings around 4:45 AM. After staging for about five minutes to gather enough officers to enter the area of the protest camp, police reported finding a man who had been shot screaming on the northwest corner of 11th and Denny. Continue reading →
Police are investigating a Thursday sex assault reported at the Capitol Hill protest camp.
The suspect was taken into custody after a volunteer medic overheard the commotion inside a camp tent as the victim who is deaf tried to scream for help, according to the police report on the incident. Continue reading →
A victim is carried by the camp’s medic volunteers at Cal Anderson Sunday night (Image: Matt Mitgang)
A camp security volunteer responds to Sunday night’s shooting (Image: Matt Mitgang)
Another night of gun violence has sent at least one person to the hospital after a shooting in the area of the Capitol HIll protest camp Sunday night.
All information is preliminary at this time and has not been confirmed by police or Seattle Fire. Seattle Police has confirmed there was a shooting and that one person was taken to the hospital and that there were reports of a possible second shooting incident.
UPDATE 6/22/20 10:26 AM: SPD has posted a brief on the shooting reporting that the victim is a 17-year-old:
At 10:03 PM, police were monitoring a demonstration which had marched from the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) area to the West Precinct at 8th and Virginia in downtown Seattle. The march was returning to Capitol Hill when SPD’s 911 Center received multiple reports of gunfire near Cal Anderson Park. To ensure the safety of medical personnel, police staged with Seattle Fire at the edge of the CHOP area and were gathering information about where the shooting victim was located when they learned he had been transported in a private vehicle to Harborview Medical Center. Police received reports of a possible second injured person but were unable to confirm that there were any additional victims. The 17-year-old victim sustained a gunshot wound to the arm. He declined to speak with detectives. He was treated and released from the hospital. The Seattle Police Department is responding to 911 calls all over the city, including inside the CHOP. For 911 calls from within CHOP, officers will attempt to coordinate contact with victims and witnesses outside the protest zone. Anyone with information on the shooting that occurred Sunday is asked to call the tip line at (206) 233-5000.
Witnesses reported hearing multiple rounds of gunfire in an incident around 10:40 PM near the protest zone. Video from the scene also captured the sounds of gunfire.
A witness said organizers reported one victim was taken to the hospital with a shoulder wound.
There were reports of a possible second victim but no other person was reported injured in the incident. Continue reading →
While his killing became an international story amid Seattle’s ongoing Black Lives Matter demonstrations and the protest camp that has grown on Capitol Hill, those that knew Anderson saw a different sort of tragedy than the versions being spun for political ends Saturday.
“They’re kids,” Renton High School dean of students and head basketball coach Rashaad Powell tells CHS. “This is my tenth year as an educator. Over the course of 10 years, there have been double digits of young people we lost.” Continue reading →
One man was reported dead and another person was shot and wounded in an overnight shooting at the Capitol Hill protest zone.
Police have confirmed the shooting but have not released further details. It was not clear if any suspects were in custody.
UPDATE 10:10 AM: Seattle Police have confirmed CHS’s early reports on the shooting and say that a 19-year-old is dead and that there have been no arrests:
On June 20th, at approximately 2:30 AM, East Precinct officers responded to a report of shots fired in Cal Anderson Park. This is inside the area referred to as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP). Officers attempted to locate a shooting victim but were met by a violent crowd that prevented officers safe access to the victims. Officers were later informed that the victims, both males, had been transported to Harborview Medical Center by CHOP medics. Officers responded to Harborview and were informed that one of the victims, a 19-year-old male, had died from injuries. The other victim, also a male, unknown age, remains in the hospital with life-threatening injuries. The suspect or suspect(s) fled and are still at large. There is no description at this time. Homicide detectives responded and are conducting a thorough investigation, despite the challenges presented by the circumstances.
Police are asking for the public’s assistance in gathering evidence. Anyone with information about the shooting or who may have video from the incident is asked to contact the Seattle Police Department’s Violent Crime tip line at (206) 233-5000.
UPDATE 4:45 PM: SPD has taken the unusual step of immediately posting a video that shows social media streams along with officer worn body video of the scene around the shooting as it happened:
The video begins with the seconds before a series of quick shots rings out and mostly reveals the frantic minutes that followed the shooting as police faced groups of demonstrators.
UPDATE 6:07 PM: Decriminalize Seattle, a coalition of groups involved with CHOP, has released a statement on the shooting.
“Last night’s shooting at CHAZ/CHOP is a tragedy. Our task now is to support the family and community of the person killed, the people injured in the shooting, and the people who witnessed the shooting,” the statement reads.
“We know that in every neighborhood of our city, violence is a constant. We know that police do not stop violence,” they write. “We know that violence happens even when the police are present. Less than a year ago, a Black woman was killed on the same block as last night’s shooting, with the East Precinct fully staffed with officers only 200 feet away. The presence of police did not stop that death.”
In 2019, 25-year-old Rayshauna Webber was stabbed and killed in Cal Anderson in a dispute with a man who took offense to a rejection of his offer to light a cigarette. David Nichols, 50, faces charges of second-degree murder and assault in the second degree in the killing.
In the statement, the groups say they do not yet know who is responsible for Saturday morning’s shooting but “real solutions do not look like continuing to fund and support the police.”
The full Decriminalize Seattle statement can be found at the end of this post.
Multiple people reported hearing three to six gunshots from the area of 10th and Pine around 2:20 AM. Police radio updates described people seen fleeing to the north on 11th from Pine and through Cal Anderson.
One victim was reported undergoing CPR in front of the Rancho Bravo restaurant at 10th and Pine before he was transported to Harborview by the protest camp medical volunteers. According to Seattle Police radio updates the man was dead when he arrived at Harborview. Livestreams from the camp in the wake of the shooting also showed a video of an announcement of the man’s death to the protest camp. Continue reading →
