Parents meet with police, Seattle daycare owners where shooting sent kids crawling to safety
SEATTLE - A local daycare will reopen Thursday, two days after it was hit by bullets and students crawled to safety. A 47-year-old man was injured during that drive-by shooting, and he's still in the hospital recovering.
On Wednesday night, worried parents met with police and the owners of the A 4 Apple Learning Center to talk about what's being done to protect the children following what teachers there called a terrifying event.
"I know mentally, it’s a lot for all of us." said Appollonia "Apple" Washington, Co-owner of A 4 Apple. " I’m still shaken up, barely any sleep. Cry here and there, but I’m thankful none of my families were affected physically."
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Shooting outside Seattle daycare leaves man seriously injured, children scrambling for safety
Children were told to get down and crawl to safety after a shooting outside a daycare in Seattle’s Central District on Monday.
"It’s still a little jump scare because anything could have happened," said Kea Johnson, parent.
Johnson's 1-year-old son Asce was in toddler class when the bullet hit.
"I am very pleased with the steps that A for Apple is taking, so our babies can continue to be safe," said Johnson.
A newly repaired window now has a sign in it that reads, "Stop the gun violence". Council member Sara Nelson helped Washington to find city funding to fix it.
"We can do so much more, this is not about replacing storefront, this is about public safety and that part of that city, that corner has been a problem spot for a long time," said Nelson.
Police Chief Adrian Diaz told parents during the meeting Wednesday that police will be doing targeted patrols in the area while the hunt for a suspect continues.
"Just the disregard of people’s safety shooting randomly in the neighborhood, we need them arrested and taken into custody soon," said Diaz.
>> Man shot outside a Seattle daycare
Diaz says a mobile police precinct will also be placed in the area, and community officers will help businesses by checking in to see what they need. Police will also monitor a parking area where previous shootings and other crimes have been reported.
"We’ve actually made some good arrests, recovered guns out of this parking lot, but just need to make sure we are working with the owner of this parking lot to make sure that some of this activity doesn’t happen in the area," said Diaz.
"I think this woke a lot of people up, and I hate that it took this, but I don’t want it to happen to any inner city childcare again," said Washington.
A security company also offered free services to the daycare.
"When I heard their voice message this morning, I cried, I broke down, like Oh my God, this is community," said Washington.
Washington says a community meeting with city leaders will take place at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the lot across the street from the A 4 Apple Learning Center. She says the public is welcome to attend that event. She says she's also looking into whether city leaders can assist with or point her to funding that she can use to install bulletproof windows at the daycare.