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Okay, thank you all
for returning today.

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I heard the call this
morning for more

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frequent updates about
the shooting last night

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at Seattle Center and our
ongoing investigation.

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I want to be transparent so I've
called this press conference

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and we will be holding another
tomorrow at noon at this same

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location. Right now tensions are
high and there's a lot of time

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sensitive work to do.

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I've asked Assistant
Chief Nicole

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Powell, who is in charge of
the Investigation Bureau,

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to present with me
this afternoon.

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She's heading up
this investigation.

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We continue to make
sure that victims

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receive the care and the
resources that they need.

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Our immediate priorities
are to help families remain

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safe, reduce the risk of
future violence, and make

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sure that they have practical
and emotional support

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during these first days
following the shooting.

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As a recap, shortly after 6 p.m.

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last night, officers
responded to the sound

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of gunfire.

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They were supporting the Bite of

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Seattle and within seconds
took a suspect into

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custody. We shared this
morning that a 19-year-old

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man, a 44-year-old man, and
a 56-year-old woman were

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killed. Two died at the scene,
and a third passed away

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at Harborview Medical Center.

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Official identification
will come from

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the King County Medical
Examiner's Office, and we

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expect the names of the
deceased to be released

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this afternoon, really any time.

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Our Human Services
Department Victim Advocates

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Team is working with
Seattle Police Department

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to support the needs of the
victims and their families.

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We are so grateful for
their incredible work and

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dedication. We now know
that at least two people

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exchanged gunfire outside
the Seattle Center Armory.

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One is in custody
and the second has

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been identified as the
19-year-old deceased

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man. This is new
information in our ongoing

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investigation. Police
continue to look for a third

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possible suspect and please
we're still seeking more

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information so if you have
information call the tip

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line at 206-233-5000.

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Our next steps in this
investigation include

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reviewing bullet casings,
investigative interviews,

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following leads that come
in through the tip line and

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reviewing any available
camera footage.

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While the Seattle Center cameras

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were not located where the
scene of the crime was,

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next steps include looking
at the video to see if

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they offer any new information.

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As you are aware, the
Seattle Police Department

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detained a 15-year-old
juvenile in connection

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with the shooting, and
this individual had their

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first court hearing
at 1:30 p.m.

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and remains in custody.

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The scene at Seattle Center
has been cleared and the

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grounds are open today.

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I want to acknowledge all of the
Seattle Center staff who have

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been looking after
folks and cleaning up.

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From across the entire campus,
from security to event staff

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and everyone who has had to
respond and continue working,

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many often invisible
in this work, and they

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are just as traumatized
by what has happened

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as the visitors.

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The team has been unbelievable
working 20-hour shifts.

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So to our leadership and staff
at Seattle Center, the city's

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gratitude is with you all.

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And I also want to express
profound gratitude to our police

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officers who've been working
nonstop since this tragedy

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occurred and are providing
regular updates to my office.

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Thank you to the victim
advocates team of the human

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services department and our
community partners focused on

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violence interruption who are
offering in-home support to

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help families understand and
navigate hospital, legal, victim

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support, and other systems.

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These teams are also convening
community to assess the

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possibility of retaliation,
identify ongoing safety

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concerns, and help the people
involved navigate those risks.

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Thank you all for coming.

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We will continue releasing
information as more

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becomes available.

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And so I want to turn it
over to Assistant Chief

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Nicole Powell to share a few
updates on the investigation.

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Thank you.

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Good afternoon.

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I am Nicole Powell,
the Assistant Chief of

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Investigations for the
Seattle Police Department.

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I want to give you an update
on the tragedy at the

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Seattle Center last night.

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This is all preliminary
information subject to change.

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This investigation is
active and ongoing.

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Our detectives are working
tirelessly on this case.

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At this point, we believe
this could be gang-related.

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There were two groups firing
in the area near the armory

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during the Bite of Seattle.

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We believe two of
the individuals were

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associates with each other.

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This is the 19-year-old who
passed away and the 15-year-old

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who was arrested last night.

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There have been a lot of
questions about cameras.

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Our detectives are still
collecting and reviewing

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video evidence from
buildings around the area.

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I want to thank our officers
who selflessly ran into danger,

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our detectives and professional
staff who are working

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together on this investigation.

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These men and women serve
Seattle day in and day out

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with pride and dedication.

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Again, I want to emphasize
this information that I

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provide today is preliminary.

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Once we have additional
information, we will

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provide it to the public.

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And if anyone have any video,
seen anything, please call

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our Violent Crimes Tip
Line at 206-233-5000.

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Thank you.

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We could take a few questions.

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Have you all been
able to interview the

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15-year-old suspect?

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Has that suspect
been cooperative?

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It's an active investigation.

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I can't give that
information right now.

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I was wondering if you could say
a little bit about what this

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means for the city of Seattle,
coming off the high of the World

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Cup and the summer of Jimothy
and a lot of lighthearted,

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good feelings about Seattle
and to now have this very

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terrible tragedy that is making
international headlines.

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What does this mean for you and
for this moment in Seattle?

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I think this is weighing
on us all right now,

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certainly weighing on me.

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I also just want to recognize
that we've had a number of

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tragic incidents of gun violence
this year, and all of them

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take very, very seriously.

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So I think everyone deserves
to feel safe in our city,

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to be safe in our city, in
all of our neighborhoods,

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in all of our public space.

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And we're going to be
working as hard as we can

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to make that the
reality, because we know

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that the future of our city, its
vitality, our quality of life,

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depends on people feeling safe
wherever they are in our city.

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So that's my very
highest priority.

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Yeah, it was certainly
altercation between the 19

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year old and the 15
year old before this.

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Did any witnesses
here any fighting?

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Was there anything that you
can identify that happened

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prior to the shooting?

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This is still an
active investigation.

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We're still interviewing
witnesses.

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So it's gonna take some
time to go through all

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of that tomorrow.

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Yeah. Um, listening to your

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preliminary investigation there
you mentioned that this very

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well could be gang related
what steps is the city of

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seattle taking considering
that you know there's

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other festivals that are
that are on the horizon here

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Umoja Fest, different concerts
coming up, you know of course

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and that's our community
communities across the

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city where it seems like
two people who might not

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have known each other or
liked each other probably

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knew each other I mean
started gunfire what's the

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city's plan to be able to
make public gatherings

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safe considering we're
in festival season right

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now yeah I mean I think
this is going to be an

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ongoing collaboration
between the city all of our

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partners county office of
gun violence prevention

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all of our community
partners so it's going to

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to take all of us and you
know I think you know

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part of this is having the
right kind of official

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presence at events part of
this is just making sure

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that we're working with
our community partners

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that are doing violence
intervention work so we're

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going to be making this plan
together as the days go on.

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Do you know more about the
27 year old who arrived

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at UW Medical Center yesterday?

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Is that person definitively
related to the

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shooting? No additional
information than what was

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provided earlier today.

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With one outstanding
suspect is there an ongoing

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threat to the public
and can you elaborate

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more on the relationship
between the 15 year old and

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the 19 year old?

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This is an active
investigation so

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I'm limited what I can say.

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What I want is to encourage
the public who was out

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there was a lot of people
if they have any videos

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or any witnesses seen
anything please call that

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tip line we're still
trying to ascertain that

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information as soon as we
have it we're going to make

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sure we put it out
as soon as possible.

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Yeah I'm just trying
to peg down some

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of the specifics here so
according to the court

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documents the 19 year old
who later passed away was

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detained at the same time
as the 15 year old so those

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two were associated and and
there's a third person, at

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least one more person out there
that you're still looking for

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who potentially they
were attempting to

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attack or vice versa.

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Can you help me understand
maybe also how many guns you

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know were involved in this?

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So the information I've
provided to date right

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now is what we have.

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It's still an active
investigation, so

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I can't provide any
additional information.

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Once we get it, we will
provide it to the public.

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According to court documents,
the verbiage in the super

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form says that the 19-year-old
was a second shooter.

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Why didn't you guys
release that this morning?

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It is an active
investigation, I think.

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Once we get that information,
once we get the witness

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statement and videos and
obtain more information,

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is the information that
we put out right now.

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Like I said, it's preliminary.

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Things are subject to change
as the investigation goes on.

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So as we're investigating it,
we'll provide more information.

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Well, I was just
wondering because it's

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obviously on the Super 4.

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So the police already said that.

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So my question is, why
did we have to have a

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second press conference to
get that information when we

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could have got it this morning.

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I mean I'll just say that my
office received that information

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in the last hour or two.

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So I mean things are unfolding
very rapidly and we're

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getting reports that then
in some cases subsequently

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turn out not to be true.

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So we're trying our best
to be able to provide

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timely information.

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Thank you.

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you haven't had a chance yet.

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Yeah, is there a reason
Chief Barnes isn't here?

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Has he been
communicating with you?

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If you didn't learn about
this information that

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was already filed in court
earlier today, around noon,

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or even earlier, potentially,
how's the communication been?

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And why isn't he here?

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I mean, again, Assistant
Chief Nicole Powell

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is here because she is the one
heading up this investigation

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and was able to provide
us with an update.

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Again, information is
going back and forth

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between multiple parties
very fast right now so you

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know we've received that
information in the last

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00:11:01,278 --> 00:11:03,580
couple hours and we're able
to share it right now.

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00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:08,500
Where were the guns recovered
on scene and have you been

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00:11:08,500 --> 00:11:10,600
able to run them to see
if they've been stolen,

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used in any other crimes?

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It's an active investigation, I
can't provide that information.

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Do you understand why people
might be frustrated that

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that's the recurring answer
that we're getting today?

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I understand as we get
information that we can

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release to the public, we will
provide as much as we can.

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So we'll be back here again at
noon tomorrow, and as we have

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more information, then we'll
be happy to share it with you.

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Quick thought before you go.

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I just want to say, and
I think I can speak for

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all members of the media
here, that we're partners.

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We're partners with you guys.

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That's what we do.

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That's what we see ourselves
as public servants too.

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And we're not always
treated that way.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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And what we're doing here is
we're trying not to provide

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inaccurate information that
later we have to walk back.

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So I appreciate you all being
here and helping us in the

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all-important mission of
keeping the public informed

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about what is happening.

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And again, we are trying our
best to provide the most

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accurate information we
can in a timely manner.

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Thank you.