SEATTLE — Seattle police officials are detailing what they say went right and wrong in the city’s response to the deadly mass shooting at the Bite of Seattle this summer.
During a public briefing Tuesday morning to city council, officials presented a 17-slide review of the department’s response to the July 26 shooting at Seattle Center.
Three people died, and four others were hurt.
The violence erupted when multiple people began shooting at each other during the festival. The incident sparked widespread criticism in the weeks that followed, particularly over how authorities communicated information to the public.
According to the review, officers took a suspected shooter into custody within 30 seconds of shots being fired. Police also cited the rapid evacuation of festival attendees and the immediate establishment of incident command as key successes during the chaotic situation.
Part of the review highlights the lag in communication to the public. Internal messages released from the department last week showed that there was nearly a five-hour gap between when the shooting took place and when information was released.
The review also identified inconsistencies in early casualty data and interference by higher-ups not on scene that, according to the department, made it difficult for incident commanders and other leaders to effectively manage the response.
Assistant Police Chief Tyrone Davis, who was Acting Chief during the Bite of Seattle event, said at some point, former police chief Shon Barnes started directing people to do things, “which should have gone through me as the acting chief.”
Davis said that created more confusion on scene, and that it’s not the first time that something like that had happened.
“One of the things I appreciate about Chief Sayles, and we talked about this, and we’ll do this moving forward, when the acting chief is there, it’s his show,” Davis said.
Referencing the delay in public information, Davis said he was ready to provide a press briefing at 7:30 p.m. The actual briefing happened closer to 11 p.m.
“We were ready to go,” he said. “I was ready to walk down there and handle it. I did talk to the deputy mayor, just kind of let him know as a courtesy, ‘We’re going to go down and conduct the interview,’ and then I was told we needed to wait for the mayor.”
Seattle Police Officer Kent Loux, who serves as President of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, said the findings present a clear message: “stop interfering.”
“Let the police do what they’re going to do, what they need to do,” Loux said. “We would have had the information out very quickly, and we could have avoided all this.”
Mayor Katie Wilson’s office told KIRO 7 they were working to streamline communication. She previously sat down with KIRO 7 in early September to roll out new guidelines with SPD to streamline coordination and communication during major incidents.
Those new guidelines include briefing the media within one hour of a major incident when it is safe and possible to do so, as well as pre-event coordination between SPD and the mayor’s office, including SPD briefs on activation plans.
“The public deserves clear, fast communication during emergencies,” Wilson said at the time. “We fell short of that during the Bight of Seattle tragedy, so we are fixing it.”
On Tuesday, her office also told KIRO 7 it was working to prevent these tragedies from happening in the first place.
“You can see this work in her recently released Gun Violence Plan, and in the investments in prevention, violence intervention, and community supports in her proposed 2027 budget,” a spokesperson for the office wrote.
Police identified various other areas for improvement in their findings, including working with mutual aid agencies who, in some cases, showed up unannounced.
Police officials attributed some of those challenges to staffing and budget limitations. The presentation notes that resources were stretched after officers had worked the Seafair Torchlight Parade the night before the shooting.
Despite those issues, officials said several aspects of the response were successful.
As part of the lessons learned, Seattle police are considering several changes to improve future responses to mass casualty incidents and active shooter events.
Those recommendations include:
- Establishing a dedicated public information officer with authority to quickly release information to the media and public.
- Separating the roles and responsibilities of the mayor’s office and police leadership during major incidents.
- Pre-authorizing drone support for mass casualty and active shooter situations.
- Developing separate plans and resources for tactical response operations and public communications.
- Expanding planning efforts to address a range of potential threats, from large fights to active shooter scenarios.
- Creating a more reliable process for confirming casualty numbers before providing information to the public.
Interim Police Chief Sayles also says he’s implemented a new policy to limit how many senior staff members are off at the same time.
Officials said the review is intended to ensure the department is better prepared for future emergencies and to address concerns raised after the shooting.
The investigation into the deadly shooting remains ongoing.
In the latest report, Seattle police said at least three suspects could be involved. One suspect was arrested, another was shot and killed, and a third suspect remained at large. A few weeks ago, police leaders said they were closing in on two people of interest connected to the case.
Officials did not provide any update on the search for additional suspects during the briefing Tuesday.
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