Report confirms uptick in shootings across King County, Seattle
Dec 3, 2021, 5:26 PM | Updated: Dec 6, 2021, 11:51 am
Police investigate a shooting in the Rainier Beach neighborhood on April 23rd. (Seattle Police)
(Seattle Police)
Seattle police are reporting five gunfire incidents within a 24-hour period. And mayors in Kent, Auburn, Tukwila, and Renton are trying to find solutions after an uptick in violence.
“Clearly, the level of violence has just come to an unacceptable level and I think all of us are collectively saying ‘enough is enough,'” Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell told KIRO Radio.
On Friday, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office released an updated Quarter 1-3 (January – September) report on gun violence data compiled from 39 law enforcement agencies across the county. The office collects this data for its “Shots Fired Project,” which launched in 2017 in an effort to take a public health approach to gun violence.
The information helps the county look at which communities and individuals are at highest risk and helps inform prevention and intervention approaches. The report does not include suicides, confirmed self-inflicted shootings, or officer involved shootings.
So far, in 2021, there have been 1,036 shots fired incidents, 283 nonfatal shooting victims, and 73 people who are firearm homicide victims.
The majority of the data comes from eight agencies: Seattle, Auburn, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent, Renton, Tukwila, and the King County Sheriff’s Office — according to the report. About 60% of the shooting victims and 61% of the total shots fired incidents come from outside of Seattle.
There have been 14 more fatal shooting victims and 86 more non-fatal shooting victims in 2021, as compared to 2020. In comparison to the previous four years (Q1-Q3 in 2017-2020), the number of fatal shooting victims (73) jumped 71% and the number of non-fatal shooting victims (283) rose 77% over a four-year average.
Additionally, 32% of shooting victims were between 18-24 years old and 81% were people of color (January-September 2021). Fifty percent of the shooting victims were Black or African American, which is similar to previous years.
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