Auburn bus stop shooting prompts urgent community meeting

Name: Community meeting called over concerns of youth violence in Auburn
Uploaded: 2024-08-01T19:33:42-07:00
Description: Auburn city leaders want to address the rising concerns of residents who have noticed an increase in teen crime across the city.

Community meeting called over concerns of youth violence in Auburn

Auburn city leaders want to address the rising concerns of residents who have noticed an increase in teen crime across the city.

Auburn, wash. - Auburn Police are still investigating a bus stop shootout that rattled a local neighborhood, with kids in the line of fire.

Investigators say nearly 100 shell casings were left behind. The gun battle broke out at the bus stop on M and 29th Street on Sunday morning.

Neighbors are fed up with the shootings and other acts of violence, and the city is trying to address the issue by holding an urgent community meeting on Thursday.

Police say generally, when it comes to youth violence in the area, they believe a core group of 15-20 young people from the region are responsible for much of the crime.

"It’s a miracle nobody in that shooting died considering how many shots were fired," said Igor, a concerned Auburn resident.

During that shooting, a group of at least four masked people went after a group getting off the bus. Three kids and one adult were hurt in the crossfire, and police say at least one gun was illegally modified.

"It’s crazy. We are lucky that people were only injured," said Igor.

No arrests have been made in that Sunday shooting, and now neighbors are speaking out, uneasy about the growing violence.

A woman who spoke at Thursday's meeting said her daughter was shot a little under two years ago.

"Those people have never been found that shot my daughter," she said.

She said the incident happened at Sunset Park.

"She got shot in the hip and I got the call around midnight, saying ‘is this the parent of this person?,’" she said. "When I drove to Harborview, there was my daughter, she had been beaten up and shot."

The police chief says he can't go into detail about the most recent shootings, but did discuss recent arrests.

"We have made several arrests. We actually arrested an individual yesterday who was part of one of the groups responsible for shooting down here," said Mark Caillier, Auburn Police Chief. "Not this specific one, although there are probably ties to the incident that just happened. He was tied to another incident that happened on 37th and 8th Street recently."

On Thursday, the mayor offered to be a sounding board for frustrations.

"I’ll be honest if you want to yell at me, it’s OK to yell at me," said Nancy Backus, Auburn Mayor. "I’m in this position because I am responsible for our community."

The mayor and the police chief are pictured at the meeting below.

Many say there aren't enough consequences for kids committing crimes.

"If they don’t behave they have to be punished in some way," said Igor.

"When I look at my daughter and my 10-year-old son and every time a firework goes off and he thinks that someone got shot in the neighborhood, this is a serious problem," said the Auburn mom.

As FOX 13 previously reported, the first five months of 2024 in King County revealed an alarming trend in youth violence. Through June 1, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed 310 juvenile felony offenses, with cases involving victims and weapons. In some of those cases, guns were used in deadly shootings.

So far this year, the number of young people killed by gunfire is more than double the 2023 total. As of July 18, 2024, data from King County Medical Examiner’s Office showed 13 people ages 17-years-old and younger were victims of homicide. The office confirmed the manner of death for each victim was by firearm.

City leaders also offered what they called "community impact papers" for those attending Thursday's meeting. Residents were encouraged to fill them out with the idea that they would eventually be delivered to legislators and prosecutors in order to push for changes.