Departed Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes breaks silence in first radio interview since leaving SPD

A month after resigning as Seattle Police Department (SPD) Chief at Mayor Katie Wilson’s request, days after a mass shooting at the Bite of Seattle festival left three dead, Shon Barnes joined “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio for his first radio interview since leaving the department.

Barnes said he learned he’d be asked to resign that day while having lunch with his family, and that he and his wife had anticipated the possibility for months.

“We had prepared for that inevitability since last November,” Barnes shared. “Then I just received a call to be in the mayor’s office at 6 p.m.”

Barnes suspected his job security was uncertain as early as the mayoral transition from Bruce Harrell to Wilson, despite the department’s improving crime numbers.

Barnes had led the department since January 2025, and SPD reported an 18% drop in overall crime and an 86% homicide clearance rate for 2025, up from 57% the year before Barnes arrived and above the national average.

“One of the very first questions that was asked of the new mayor was whether or not she was going to keep me,” Barnes said. “Less than six months prior, I had been confirmed unanimously by City Council. We had reduced crime, especially homicides, to pre-pandemic levels. We had an 80% clearance on homicides. The year prior to me getting here, our clearance rate was 45%. I felt like we were going in the right direction.”

Before the Bite of Seattle shooting, Seattle recorded 15 homicides in 2026, including its first homicide-free June since 1970. The City of Seattle continues to see a year-by-year decrease in homicides since 74 occurred in 2023.

Barnes said Wilson didn’t give him a specific reason for the decision when they met.

“It was to listen, and what I heard was that I was going to be asked to resign, and that a subsequent meeting was going to be held the following day,” Barnes said. “Then I turned things over to my attorney.”

KIRO host Ursula Reutin played a clip from Wilson’s July 31 news conference, where she announced Barnes’ departure and named Andre Sayles as interim chief.

“As the mayor, as the executive of the city, I do have a different window into our police department than they do, and I’m making the decision that I believe is best and urgent at this time for our police department and for this city,” Wilson said on July 31.

Asked whether he knew what Wilson was referring to, Barnes said that’s a question for her.

“I met with the mayor regularly, at least every other week, trying to inform her on what was going on inside the department,” Barnes said. “You have to look yourself in the mirror every single day. If you are asked to leave or dismissed or things don’t go well, you’ve got to know that you left it all out on that field, and that’s what I’ve tried to do here.”

Barnes addresses questions about his residency in Chicago

Where Barnes lived and spent his time became a controversy in itself after the City of Seattle learned he was not in town when the Bite of Seattle shooting broke out, as he was attending a conference in Dallas.

SPD released Barnes’ calendar after the shooting, revealing that between February and July, he visited Chicago four times — where his family is located.

On “The Gee and Ursula Show,” Barnes shared that he lived in Pioneer Square during his tenure, while his wife and children remained in Chicago, an arrangement he said was agreed upon with former Mayor Bruce Harrell before he took the job.

“My wife has worked extremely hard to be where she is. She’s a cancer researcher. She works hard to prevent breast cancer in women,” Barnes said. “How dare me say, as a man, because I have a job in Seattle that I love, that I’ve worked for, you have to leave that right now, without a plan, and follow me.”

Barnes responds to internal messaging conflict over Bite of Seattle press briefing

KIRO host Gee Scott read from an internal message SPD Detective Brian Pritchard wrote following the July 26 shooting, in which Pritchard said he struggled with press messaging after officers on scene were told a briefing was delayed for arriving dignitaries, while the public was later told that wasn’t the case. Scott asked Barnes when he became aware of the discrepancy and what he believes happened.

“I was made aware of it later on that night,” Barnes said. “I began to go through the active shooter incident management checklist. I made the call to the public safety director, the FBI special agent in charge, and the acting police chief. My interpretation was that things were already progressing. I did not, under any circumstances, tell anyone to delay a press conference.”

Barnes said he expects the city’s Office of Inspector General investigation, which is examining the response, to clarify what happened.

“I know her to be very thorough and to be very unbiased, and whatever happened, I think we should wait for the findings of that before we speculate,” Barnes said.

Ursula followed up, noting nearly five hours passed before a major public update.

“That’s going to be determined by the independent report,” Barnes said. “What the public wants to hear is that whoever we may be, we made a mistake, there was miscommunication, whatever the case may be, and then you move forward.”

Ursula asked directly whether Barnes could confirm speculation that the briefing was delayed so Governor Bob Ferguson and Representative Pramila Jayapal could be present alongside Wilson.

“I can’t confirm that. I don’t know,” Barnes said. “But what people want from leadership is accountability, and to be able to say, ‘I made a mistake.’ I’ve been a police officer for 27 years, a police chief for seven years. Sometimes I make a mistake a day, but I grow from it, I learn from it, and I take accountability for that.”

Barnes denies he took vacation during his tenure, calls Pierce County sheriff’s claim false

Gee raised public criticism of Barnes’ time away from Seattle. Barnes said he does not take vacation and traveled to Chicago four times during his time as chief, describing the role as a 24/7 job that includes federal and interagency meetings even while away.

“There is no vacation,” Barnes said. “I had my Valentine’s Day dinner with my wife over Zoom. Each and every time I go to a training or an executive meeting, there are people there from the federal government telling me about changes in immigration policy. This is a job where you have to hear what’s going on in the country so that you can come back and protect the people here in the city of Seattle.”

Ursula asked Barnes about a social media post from Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank alleging that Barnes wanted to fight him and that Sayles personally delivered that message at a law enforcement graduation.

“The answer is no,” Barnes said. “I do not know him.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.