Mayor faces transparency backlash over Bite of Seattle shooting delay

SEATTLE - Questions over transparency continue to mount at Seattle City Hall after police officials revealed Mayor Katie Wilson’s office delayed public safety updates following a deadly shooting at July's "Bite of Seattle" event.

Seattle Police Assistant Chief Tyrone Davis stated he was prepared to brief the media hours before an official press conference occurred, but Deputy Mayor Brian Surratt requested he wait for the mayor. Shots were fired just after 6:00 p.m., but a meaningful public update was not delivered until nearly 11:00 p.m.

"By 7:30, I was ready to brief the press, and I was delayed," Davis said. "What I shared in that 20-minute press conference at 11 o'clock would've been the same exact information I would've provided at 7:30. Nothing changed. That's how stable the situation was."

Timeline gaps and internal text messages

When questioned in July about whether anyone in her office instructed SPD leadership not to hold a press conference between 7:45 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., Mayor Katie Wilson denied any knowledge of a delay.

"That is not my understanding, no," Wilson said when asked if staff members made decisions without her knowledge.

During an interview in August, Wilson clarified her timeline, noting her direct involvement began later in the evening when she arrived at Seattle Center.

"So, not to get too in the weeds here, but there's the video that I put out where I think we made it clear that at the very end part of the evening, from 9:45 to 10:45, when we learned that a press conference was being planned, that was the point where I came down to Seattle Center, and we had a couple of other public officials joining," Wilson said. "I think the delay that everyone's really concerned about was earlier in the evening, and that's what we're doing that work to figure out why that happened."

Earlier this month, the mayor's office released internal messages from the night of the incident showing staff members noting the delay. One staffer's message read, "It's (expletive) embarrassing that SPD has waited hours to put anything out."

"We released those texts in the interest of transparency," Wilson said regarding the message release when asked earlier this month.

Police union and inspector general review

FOX 13 Seattle pressed both Wilson and Surratt for additional answers on Tuesday regarding the cause of the delay.

"Mayor, you had time to correct the record," reporter Dan Griffin asked Wilson. "How can people believe what your administration has to say?"

Griffin also confronted Surratt, asking, "Any comment on the repeated delays? Accusations you're the reason that there were hours of delays for public information?"

The Seattle Police Officers Guild pushed back against the city executive staff, stating officers on the scene had the situation under control before City Hall intervened.

"I think this definitely damages public trust," said Seattle Police Officers Guild President Kent Loux. "I think the Mayor's Office is definitely going to have to think very carefully about that."

At Mayor Wilson's request, the Seattle Office of Inspector General is conducting a review of the administration's response to the incident.

FOX 13 Seattle will continue to request interviews with the mayor and deputy mayor.

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