Community pleading for end in gun violence in Central District
SEATTLE - It’s been a violent week in the Central District. Seattle Police said Thursday someone was robbed outside of Garfield High School and two others were shot in the neighborhood.
The two incidents come after back-to-back shootings earlier in the week, and people in the area want answers, as this year alone, the spike crime has now made it a hot spot.
The reality is SPD is still understaffed and even if they hired police officers tomorrow, the soonest we could see them on the streets would be a year from now, after they’re trained.
Right now, the solutions are continued partnerships between community leaders and police to help give teens resources and outlets hoping to take them off the streets.
Business owners, residents and community leaders gathered after Victoria Beach united them with Seattle Police.
>> Shooting outside Seattle daycare prompts packed community safety meeting
"I get it everybody is up in arms and upset with what is happening in our community," Beach said.
People in the community are hurting.
"We don’t have a police department and if the anger goes anywhere it goes towards our old city council, we’re here because of that," Beach said.
The neighborhood is now a hot spot, the area seeing an increase in crime over the last two years.
The A 4 Apple Learning Center. was caught in the middle of gunfire back in October as children inside the daycare crawled to cover when a bullet shattered a window. Appollonia Washington, co-owner of the daycare was at the meeting Thursday.
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"I can’t dwell on the bullet coming through the window, even though it’s frustrating," Washington previously said following the shooting.
She questioned why it took SPD so long to unite with the community and answer these questions sooner.
A few days later the PostMan, a family business, was shot just hours after loved ones gathered for a candlelight vigil honoring the late co-founder D’Vonne Pickett Junior who was shot and killed a year ago outside.
SPD Assistant Chief of Special Operations Tyrone Davis, said "we are struggling with gun violence, and I think what's more alarming is the age of the people who are perpetrating this violence."
Assistant Chief Davis, says those pulling the trigger are just kids a tough situation he says will take the community to figure out. However, the issue isn’t getting easier and the problems are only increasing along Spruce Street. Police say on Thursday a robbery happened in front of Garfield High School. No students were hurt, but someone brandished a gun and stole phones before taking off.
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"What happened today and what has gun violence looked like around schools and what is SPDs plan whether you get staff or not to make sure that our youth in this area and surrounding area are protected." a concerned resident questioned.
Assistant Chief Davis who was at the meeting on behalf of Chief Adrian Diaz says in October officers recovered 108 guns, at the end of the month their total was 1260. It’s unknown how many are stolen but says it’s a high percentage.
"I hope those numbers indicate we are working hard to address gun violence," Davis said.
The room was filled with residents, business owners, and community leaders who all say more needs to be done to address gun violence.
"I ended up here today because my friend's house got shot yesterday. A car rolled over on their lawn," A resident said. "I walked into the neighbors they had bullets in their stairwell. Is this worse than what’s going in other parts of the city?"
>> Parents meet with police, Seattle daycare owners where shooting sent kids crawling to safety
Council member elect Joy Hollingsworth was also at the meeting. She said, "We know that there has been action for a long time grew up in this district 23rd and Jackson has always been a hot topic. We've always had these talks and these meetings. Now we want to see actionable items to come to that corner."
Hollingsworth says these conversations will continue. Meetings will be held once a month and says shes taking note of some of the issues so when she’s in office she can follow up. The next meeting is Dec. 12 at 7 pm at Washington Hall.