Mayor, police concerned after emergency responders blocked at scene of shooting

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn told 97.3 KIRO FM’s Ross and Burbank Show he’s concerned about a hostile response emergency responders received that kept them from immediately coming to the aid of a shooting victim. (97.3 KIRO FM/Erynn Rose)

Police say a hostile crowd prevented emergency responders
from immediately helping a man with multiple gunshot
wounds Wednesday night in the parking lot of a south
Seattle fast food restaurant. Seattle’s mayor said he was
briefed on the challenges and plans to look into it
further.

“I heard those issues, that they were impeded, and it
gives me the same concerns that it gives you,” said
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn in an appearance on 97.3 KIRO FM’s Ross and Burbank Show.
“This is something we’re going to have to get behind and
figure out what this is.”

Seattle Police Spokesman Mark Jamieson said fire
department medics couldn’t reach the man for 5 to 7
minutes. He said 15 officers were called in to quell the
crowd of 25 to 50 people in the parking lot of the Jack in
the Box in the 9100 Rainier Ave. South Seattle, WA.

Jamieson said people in the crowd were posturing, ripping
off their shirts and challenging officers to fight. No one
was helping the wounded man, who was eventually taken to
Harborview Medical Center in critical condition.

“I want to be hopeful. I want to say that last night was
just sort of an anomaly,” said Jamieson, “but I really
can’t explain it.”

McGinn said this is not the first shooting at that Jack in
the Box location.

“I’ve been down to that Jack in the Box,” said McGinn. “I
asked Assistant Chief Pugel, who is the head of our
Criminal Investigations Division, to take me to every
murder site in the city.”

McGinn said he wanted to see the murder sites to determine
whether there were patterns or trends that could be
observed in the crimes.

He said in the Wednesday shooting case, it wasn’t an issue
of police not being in the area.

“A police officer heard the shots and was on the scene
immediately,” said McGinn. “We do have emphasis patrols
there, and in this case there was a police officer very
close by when it happened.”

Jamieson said there’s no known motive or suspect in the
shooting. Detectives are looking for people who fled the
scene when the shots were fired.

Investigators are asking anyone that was in the parking
lot at the time of the shooting to contact the police
through their tip line at (206) 233-5000.

“Detectives are speaking to some potential witnesses, but
they need more,” said Jamieson.

Listen to Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn on Ross and
Burbank:

By JAMIE GRISWOLD, MyNorthwest.com Editor
The
Associated Press contributed to this report.