Gun violence and prostitution continue to be a major problem along Aurora Avenue North in Seattle.
Last Friday, video surveillance captured the moments off Aurora and 97th Street where people inside two vehicles in the middle of the road fired dozens of shots at each other.
Fortunately, no one was injured, but police recovered nearly two dozen shell casings in the area.
“And quite frankly, I am just getting to the point where I am losing my patience,” Seattle Councilmember Cathy Moore told KIRO7 on Tuesday.
“Aurora is just not business friendly right now,” Empire Insurance Brokers owner Ryan Ferrie said.
Just days after the shootout, some businesses like Empire Insurance Brokers, have had enough. And after nearly 50 years in the neighborhood, Ferrie says they will shut down their North Seattle location and combine with their Everett location.
“It’s sad. You know, it’s going to be a huge disruption. We’ve got thousands of clients here that utilize this office and they may or may not stay with us,” Ferrie continued.
Ferrie says this decision is based on safety and that it isn’t fair for his employees to fear for their lives while on the job.
“There was literally bullets they were digging out of the wall inside here and there was a computer monitor in the front where our associate sits with a bullet stopped in there,” Ferrie said.
During her conversation with KIRO7 Tuesday, Councilmember Moore cited that the city’s new Stay Out Area of Prostitution, or SOAP, law is meant to combat the issues of the open sex trade and gun violence along Aurora Avenue. She argues Seattle Police need to enforce the law more.
“We have the laws and tools in place. Let us use them. Let’s declare an emergency on Aurora. Gun Violence. We need to deal with it now,” Councilmember Moore said.
But business owners like Ferrie would have a different opinion.
“Whatever the SOAP zone is or whatever they want to call it is useless. It doesn’t mean anything. We haven’t seen one single pause in prostitution since they passed that,” Ferrie said.
Even though Ferrie says he has had enough, he hopes city and state lawmakers figure out this looming problem.
“I just….I don’t….it’s not the Emerald City anymore,” Ferrie said.
KIRO7 reached out to Councilmember Moore for an interview on businesses like Ferrie’s leaving the area in response to the ongoing violence linked to prostitution. Moore sent this statement:
“It’s unfortunate, but completely understandable to read the news of Empire Insurance Brokers leaving Aurora Avenue. No business should have to deal with gunshots entering the workplace, and Aurora has been plagued with escalating gun violence in recent years.
Since taking office last year, I’ve taken these ongoing public safety concerns raised by constituents very seriously. The Commercial Sexual Exploitation legislation, I sponsored last fall is specifically in response to the brazen gun violence in the area. Now that the Council has passed this legislation and the Mayor has signed it, I am eager to see a plan for its swift implementation. We also need the CCTV cameras on Aurora and Real Time Crime Center up as soon as possible, both have already been approved and funded by the Council.
We need the Executive to view the ongoing gun violence in North Seattle as an emergency requiring an immediate and fully resourced response.
My office has spoken with many of the businesses in this area and they have asked that we replicate the success that we have seen in using eco blocks to block side streets at 101st to reduce gun violence up and down the Aurora corridor. We need the Executive to act immediately and use environmental design, additional officers, and technology tools to address this issue.”