Okay, thank you all for returning today.
I heard the call this morning for more
frequent updates about the shooting last night
at Seattle Center and our ongoing investigation.
I want to be transparent so I've called this press conference
and we will be holding another tomorrow at noon at this same
location. Right now tensions are high and there's a lot of time
sensitive work to do.
I've asked Assistant Chief Nicole
Powell, who is in charge of the Investigation Bureau,
to present with me this afternoon.
She's heading up this investigation.
We continue to make sure that victims
receive the care and the resources that they need.
Our immediate priorities are to help families remain
safe, reduce the risk of future violence, and make
sure that they have practical and emotional support
during these first days following the shooting.
As a recap, shortly after 6 p.m.
last night, officers responded to the sound
of gunfire.
They were supporting the Bite of
Seattle and within seconds took a suspect into
custody. We shared this morning that a 19-year-old
man, a 44-year-old man, and a 56-year-old woman were
killed. Two died at the scene, and a third passed away
at Harborview Medical Center.
Official identification will come from
the King County Medical Examiner's Office, and we
expect the names of the deceased to be released
this afternoon, really any time.
Our Human Services Department Victim Advocates
Team is working with Seattle Police Department
to support the needs of the victims and their families.
We are so grateful for their incredible work and
dedication. We now know that at least two people
exchanged gunfire outside the Seattle Center Armory.
One is in custody and the second has
been identified as the 19-year-old deceased
man. This is new information in our ongoing
investigation. Police continue to look for a third
possible suspect and please we're still seeking more
information so if you have information call the tip
line at 206-233-5000.
Our next steps in this investigation include
reviewing bullet casings, investigative interviews,
following leads that come in through the tip line and
reviewing any available camera footage.
While the Seattle Center cameras
were not located where the scene of the crime was,
next steps include looking at the video to see if
they offer any new information.
As you are aware, the Seattle Police Department
detained a 15-year-old juvenile in connection
with the shooting, and this individual had their
first court hearing at 1:30 p.m.
and remains in custody.
The scene at Seattle Center has been cleared and the
grounds are open today.
I want to acknowledge all of the Seattle Center staff who have
been looking after folks and cleaning up.
From across the entire campus, from security to event staff
and everyone who has had to respond and continue working,
many often invisible in this work, and they
are just as traumatized by what has happened
as the visitors.
The team has been unbelievable working 20-hour shifts.
So to our leadership and staff at Seattle Center, the city's
gratitude is with you all.
And I also want to express profound gratitude to our police
officers who've been working nonstop since this tragedy
occurred and are providing regular updates to my office.
Thank you to the victim advocates team of the human
services department and our community partners focused on
violence interruption who are offering in-home support to
help families understand and navigate hospital, legal, victim
support, and other systems.
These teams are also convening community to assess the
possibility of retaliation, identify ongoing safety
concerns, and help the people involved navigate those risks.
Thank you all for coming.
We will continue releasing information as more
becomes available.
And so I want to turn it over to Assistant Chief
Nicole Powell to share a few updates on the investigation.
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
I am Nicole Powell, the Assistant Chief of
Investigations for the Seattle Police Department.
I want to give you an update on the tragedy at the
Seattle Center last night.
This is all preliminary information subject to change.
This investigation is active and ongoing.
Our detectives are working tirelessly on this case.
At this point, we believe this could be gang-related.
There were two groups firing in the area near the armory
during the Bite of Seattle.
We believe two of the individuals were
associates with each other.
This is the 19-year-old who passed away and the 15-year-old
who was arrested last night.
There have been a lot of questions about cameras.
Our detectives are still collecting and reviewing
video evidence from buildings around the area.
I want to thank our officers who selflessly ran into danger,
our detectives and professional staff who are working
together on this investigation.
These men and women serve Seattle day in and day out
with pride and dedication.
Again, I want to emphasize this information that I
provide today is preliminary.
Once we have additional information, we will
provide it to the public.
And if anyone have any video, seen anything, please call
our Violent Crimes Tip Line at 206-233-5000.
Thank you.
We could take a few questions.
Have you all been able to interview the
15-year-old suspect?
Has that suspect been cooperative?
It's an active investigation.
I can't give that information right now.
I was wondering if you could say a little bit about what this
means for the city of Seattle, coming off the high of the World
Cup and the summer of Jimothy and a lot of lighthearted,
good feelings about Seattle and to now have this very
terrible tragedy that is making international headlines.
What does this mean for you and for this moment in Seattle?
I think this is weighing on us all right now,
certainly weighing on me.
I also just want to recognize that we've had a number of
tragic incidents of gun violence this year, and all of them
take very, very seriously.
So I think everyone deserves to feel safe in our city,
to be safe in our city, in all of our neighborhoods,
in all of our public space.
And we're going to be working as hard as we can
to make that the reality, because we know
that the future of our city, its vitality, our quality of life,
depends on people feeling safe wherever they are in our city.
So that's my very highest priority.
Yeah, it was certainly altercation between the 19
year old and the 15 year old before this.
Did any witnesses here any fighting?
Was there anything that you can identify that happened
prior to the shooting?
This is still an active investigation.
We're still interviewing witnesses.
So it's gonna take some time to go through all
of that tomorrow.
Yeah. Um, listening to your
preliminary investigation there you mentioned that this very
well could be gang related what steps is the city of
seattle taking considering that you know there's
other festivals that are that are on the horizon here
Umoja Fest, different concerts coming up, you know of course
and that's our community communities across the
city where it seems like two people who might not
have known each other or liked each other probably
knew each other I mean started gunfire what's the
city's plan to be able to make public gatherings
safe considering we're in festival season right
now yeah I mean I think this is going to be an
ongoing collaboration between the city all of our
partners county office of gun violence prevention
all of our community partners so it's going to
to take all of us and you know I think you know
part of this is having the right kind of official
presence at events part of this is just making sure
that we're working with our community partners
that are doing violence intervention work so we're
going to be making this plan together as the days go on.
Do you know more about the 27 year old who arrived
at UW Medical Center yesterday?
Is that person definitively related to the
shooting? No additional information than what was
provided earlier today.
With one outstanding suspect is there an ongoing
threat to the public and can you elaborate
more on the relationship between the 15 year old and
the 19 year old?
This is an active investigation so
I'm limited what I can say.
What I want is to encourage the public who was out
there was a lot of people if they have any videos
or any witnesses seen anything please call that
tip line we're still trying to ascertain that
information as soon as we have it we're going to make
sure we put it out as soon as possible.
Yeah I'm just trying to peg down some
of the specifics here so according to the court
documents the 19 year old who later passed away was
detained at the same time as the 15 year old so those
two were associated and and there's a third person, at
least one more person out there that you're still looking for
who potentially they were attempting to
attack or vice versa.
Can you help me understand maybe also how many guns you
know were involved in this?
So the information I've provided to date right
now is what we have.
It's still an active investigation, so
I can't provide any additional information.
Once we get it, we will provide it to the public.
According to court documents, the verbiage in the super
form says that the 19-year-old was a second shooter.
Why didn't you guys release that this morning?
It is an active investigation, I think.
Once we get that information, once we get the witness
statement and videos and obtain more information,
is the information that we put out right now.
Like I said, it's preliminary.
Things are subject to change as the investigation goes on.
So as we're investigating it, we'll provide more information.
Well, I was just wondering because it's
obviously on the Super 4.
So the police already said that.
So my question is, why did we have to have a
second press conference to get that information when we
could have got it this morning.
I mean I'll just say that my office received that information
in the last hour or two.
So I mean things are unfolding very rapidly and we're
getting reports that then in some cases subsequently
turn out not to be true.
So we're trying our best to be able to provide
timely information.
Thank you.
you haven't had a chance yet.
Yeah, is there a reason Chief Barnes isn't here?
Has he been communicating with you?
If you didn't learn about this information that
was already filed in court earlier today, around noon,
or even earlier, potentially, how's the communication been?
And why isn't he here?
I mean, again, Assistant Chief Nicole Powell
is here because she is the one heading up this investigation
and was able to provide us with an update.
Again, information is going back and forth
between multiple parties very fast right now so you
know we've received that information in the last
couple hours and we're able to share it right now.
Where were the guns recovered on scene and have you been
able to run them to see if they've been stolen,
used in any other crimes?
It's an active investigation, I can't provide that information.
Do you understand why people might be frustrated that
that's the recurring answer that we're getting today?
I understand as we get information that we can
release to the public, we will provide as much as we can.
So we'll be back here again at noon tomorrow, and as we have
more information, then we'll be happy to share it with you.
Quick thought before you go.
I just want to say, and I think I can speak for
all members of the media here, that we're partners.
We're partners with you guys.
That's what we do.
That's what we see ourselves as public servants too.
And we're not always treated that way.
Yeah, absolutely.
And what we're doing here is we're trying not to provide
inaccurate information that later we have to walk back.
So I appreciate you all being here and helping us in the
all-important mission of keeping the public informed
about what is happening.
And again, we are trying our best to provide the most
accurate information we can in a timely manner.
Thank you.