KIRO NEWSRADIO OPINION

‘Who cares what race somebody is if they’re shooting people?’: Jake questions SPD’s refusal to describe Bite of Seattle suspect

Aug 11, 2026, 3:56 PM

Interim Seattle Police Chief Andre Sayles did not give a clear description of who may be a third gunman in the Bite of Seattle shooting.

Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka asked Sayles to describe the suspect during a Seattle City Council public safety hearing Tuesday.

“Irrespective of the race of this person, are you able to provide a description of what they were wearing?” Saka asked.

“At no time did I bring up anybody of race in regard to this,” Sayles responded. “As a Black man myself, I understand it as well. I did not say a race. There was a potential identification of a person wearing a blue shirt. That, as far as I’ll go with that.”

KIRO hosts Jake Skorheim and Spike O’Neill agreed that although a description of a blue shirt was better than nothing, it would be helpful to have more details.

‘It’s frustrating’: Jake and Spike baffled by SPD’s lack of suspect details in Bite of Seattle shooting

“I’m sure there was more than one blue shirt that was being worn at the Bite of Seattle that day,” Jake said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “It would be helpful to know somebody’s general race, which is something that somebody could identify if they had it.”

“It’s frustrating,” Spike responded.

“Who cares what race somebody is if somebody’s out there shooting people?” Jake asked.

Jake said the lack of a suspect description makes the entire investigation feel pointless.

“What’s the investigation even going to be if they’re not telling anybody who to look for?” he asked. “Why are they even having a press conference?”

“Many questions were asked about communication and chain of command and all the different elements that went into why we still, almost three weeks later, don’t know enough about what happened that day, let alone who committed the crimes,” Spike responded.

“Golly, good luck,” Jake said. “If all you get is blue shirt out of the deal. Good luck.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3

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‘Who cares what race somebody is if they’re shooting people?’: Jake questions SPD’s refusal to describe Bite of Seattle suspect