King County sees decline in shooting victims and gunfire incidents
Jul 23, 2025, 6:15 PM
King County released its shots-fired report for the second quarter (Q2) of 2025, which detailed the number of fatal shooting victims, non-fatal shooting victims, and total shots fired in the county.
In comparison to Q2 of 2024, there was a 31% decrease in the overall number of shooting victims.
“This is an encouraging trend and an indication that the work we have been doing is having a positive impact in driving down gun violence,” King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said.
This year’s Q2 number of shots fired in King County was lowest since 2020
This year’s Q2 numbers for total shots fired were the lowest since 2020, and shots resulting in non-fatal injuries have continued to decrease since Q2 of 2023, when there were 103 incidents, and have now been recorded at 48 in Q2 of 2025.
“In the first quarter of this year, King County experienced the safest first quarter in terms of gun violence in the past five years. The second quarter also had the lowest level of gun violence when compared to the second quarter of the last five years,” Manion explained.
A total of 278 reported incidents of shots being fired in Q2 of 2025 occurred, with 14 of those being fatal and 55 non-fatal incidents.
“A 22% decrease in the number of gun violence homicide victims. A 33% reduction in the number of non-fatal gun violence victims. And a 25% reduction in the overall number of shots fired,” Manion said.
The report noted that individuals shot in confirmed self-defense cases and confirmed self-inflicted shootings did not count toward the total fatal and non-fatal victim count.
Of the 69 shooting victims, roughly 53% were Black or African American, 90% were identified as male, and 33% of victims were between the ages of 18 and 24.
“We’re not ready to declare victory. We know more work needs to be done. But, it is encouraging that the things we’ve been doing with law enforcement, and community-based nonprofits have been having a positive impact,” Manion shared.
Highest number of shots fired in Q2 in King County was in 2023
The total number of shots fired incidents for Q2 in recent years peaked during 2023, with a recorded 465 shootings. This year’s total of 278 shots fired was the lowest since 2021, with 278 reported shots fired.
As for the location of these shootings, Seattle and South King County remained fairly even, with roughly 52% of shootings occurring in Seattle and approximately 44% in South King County.
Seattle recorded more shootings than South King County for the second Q2 year in a row, with more than 20 shots fired reported. In recent years, South King County had 50 or more shootings than Seattle between Q2 2021 and Q2 2023.
The data was reported to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office by police agencies in Auburn, Bellevue, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent, Kirkland, King County Sheriff’s Office, Renton, Seattle, Tukwila, and Washington State Patrol.
Contributing: James Lynch, KIRO Newsradio
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