SEATTLE — Seattle Police have arrested a 15-year-old boy after a man was found shot in a stairwell in the Mount Baker neighborhood.
A 911 caller alerted police to the shooting in the 3600 block of 34th Avenue South at around 2 a.m. on Sunday.
When police arrived, they found a 22-year-old man alive but seriously injured. Despite aid from officers and the Seattle Fire Department, the victim later died at Harborview Medical Center.
The boy was arrested by the Seattle Police Department June 17, with assistance from the Des Moines Police Department.
He was booked into Judge Patricia H. Clark Children & Family Justice Center on charges of murder.
The victim was identified by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office as Kenneth Donnell Harrell of Seattle.
According to Detective Brian Pritchard, there was an altercation that occurred before the shooting, but detectives couldn’t share more information at the time.
KIRO 7 spoke to residents of the apartment building who say they heard the gunshots, the violence is getting out of hand, and something needs to change.
Purple balloons were placed at the shattered glass door where the shooting happened.
“It does break my heart. I’ve never seen anything like this before, I never want to see anything like this again,” said Alyce Watkins, who has lived in the apartment complex for 14 years. “I feel like I’m constantly looking over my shoulder and I just don’t feel safe here anymore. I’ve been planning to move for a while, but this just accelerated the departure.”
KIRO 7 recently sat down with interim Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr about what’s being done to keep guns off the street.
She said it’s not an easy task.
“I can’t magically make the guns disappear. Gun culture in the United States isn’t going away anytime soon. So, what we have to focus on is how to prevent it,” said Rahr.
Rahr said she wants to focus on preventing gun violence by building community relationships with officers.
On Friday, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell announced an executive order to take immediate action to address the problem.
The order comes after a shooting at Garfield High School, where a student was killed.
Harrell said $2 million will go toward violence prevention and intervention.
It’s part of a $10 million plan focusing on youth mental health and safety with access to telehealth therapy expanding from 80 to 2,000 students.
The investment strategy begins this summer.
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