
By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Seattle Police detectives are investigating a shooting at Garfield High School today.
At 12:30 p.m., patrol officers responded to reports of gunfire in the 400 block of 23rd Avenue South, where they found a 17-year-old male suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Seattle police officers provided medical assistance to the victim until the Seattle Fire Department arrived on the scene and continued the treatment. The male, whose identity has not been released due to the ongoing investigation, was transported to Harborview Medical Center in serious condition.
According to Harborview Medical Center, despite all lifesaving efforts, the victim died at the hospital due to his injuries.
The investigation has determined that an altercation took place on the ground of Garfield High School prior to the shooting. The suspect, described as a Black high school-aged male, fled the scene and has not been located.
Police cordoned off the area until Seattle Police Homicide Detectives arrived.
Community members and leaders, including Mayor Harrell, Interim Police Chief Sue Rahr, and City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth, held a press conference at Mt. Calvary Christian Center to address the incident and discuss meaningful ways for the community to unite against gun violence.
According to Harrell, the only real solution to curbing the violence that we are seeing these days is to get the enormous number of guns off the streets and having law enforcement and the community unite to fight for their communities.
“This is a very difficult day,” says Harrell. “The bottom line is we have too many guns on our streets. The bottom line is it is too easy to access a gun. This message may seem repetitive, but it is the absolute truth in our country, our states, and indeed in our city.”
“There is a sense of commonality that we see in these kinds of incidents, and until we address the barrage of guns in our city, we will never be able to make sustainable progress,” Harrell continued.
Community members expressed concern for the families of both the victim and the perpetrator. To prevent this from happening in the future, both community and government leaders agree that unity is essential in tackling this epidemic.
“As a person who is in the business of touching lives and making people better, my heart is absolutely crushed,” says Bishop Reggie Witherspoon, Sr., pastor of Mt. Calvary Christian Center. “This is a tragedy of epidemic proportions. Friends, we have an epidemic on our hands. We are on the verge of losing an entire generation of young people.”
“This is not a racial issue, this is a human issue,” Witherspoon continued. “The question that begs to be answered is what is a young teenager doing with a gun to begin with? We need to be able to answer those questions.”
The irony of the shooting is that the incident took place just one day before Gun Violence Awareness Day, where gun drop-box events will be held across the region.
According to police officials, this is an open and ongoing investigation. If anyone has information, they are urged to call the SPD Violent Crime Tip Line at (206) 233-5000, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.