Auburn PD confirms rash of gun violence is gang-related but there is no gang unit
Aug 2, 2024, 1:24 PM
The Auburn Police Department held a meeting with residents to talk about recent gun violence. The chief confirmed it is gang related. (Photo: James Lynch, KIRO Newsradio)
(Photo: James Lynch, KIRO Newsradio)
Residents and business owners say teen, gun-related-violent crime is taking over the city and traumatizing families. On Thursday, the Auburn Police Department (APD) Chief Mark Callier confirmed the recent shootings are gang-related.
According to APD, the latest shooting happened around 6:40 p.m. Monday on M Street Southeast. APD said after getting a 911 call, officers arrived at the scene and found nearly 100 shell casings. Auburn police said the attack was a planned ambush and not random.
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A video shows four masked people approaching a group of five people, composed of three juveniles and one adult, getting off a Metro bus. The masked people take out handguns and start shooting at the group of five. Four of the five sustained non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
“Over the last eight years that we’ve lived in this home, every year there are more and more shootings close to our schools, close to our children,” parent Christina Latham told KIRO Newsradio. “With the proximity of us living toward the school, we don’t get buses. We live a third of a mile away and my daughter won’t walk to school. She’s too terrified.”
With stories like that, more than 60 people packed the Church of the Nazarene to meet with city leaders. Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus was there and Caillier. He told the crowd something most already knew.
“They do have gang ties, the majority of them,” Caillier said. “Why they come here? I don’t know. Some of the subjects involved do reside here, but it is a regional issue.”
“APD doesn’t have a gang unit. It does have a detective who works these cases. Like most law enforcement agencies, they are understaffed,” he continued.
Backus said police can’t do it alone. The community must also play a role, engaging with police and city leaders, in a unified effort to make the city safer.
“You want to yell at me, it’s OK to yell at me,” Backus said. “I am in the position because I am responsible for our community and it’s a gift I have been given and along with that gift comes a responsibility of hearing from you whatever you have to say,”
“If you have ideas, things you want to share, that’s what this is for,” she continued.
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In the end, city leaders and residents agreed to collaborate … to work together to solve their problems. Caillier said there is help on the way with new officers in the training academy and a stack of applications for even more.
Until then, most people agreed, that residents and business owners have a role to play.
“I think we as a community need to start focusing on wrapping ourselves around our kids,” Auburn School Board Member Sheilia McLaughlin said. “They don’t always have a support system at home. They don’t always have someone to step up and be their mentor, or be their savior in a moment. So, we as a community need to take that on.”
“We need to be willing to to step in to someone’s life and help them out,” she continued.
James Lynch is a reporter at KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of James’ stories here. Follow James on X, or email him here.
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