After shootings, business owners and residents demand new safety plan for downtown Seattle

In the wake of Wednesday’s shooting in downtown Seattle, business owners and residents rallied at Westlake Park Friday under the banner, "Enough is enough."

The shootings at Third and Pine left one person dead and seven more injured. Amazon employees and residents of nearby Plymouth Housing were among the victims. Harborview Medical Center said the 9-year-old boy who was injured was being discharged Friday afternoon.

At the rally organized by the Downtown Seattle Association, people said they want to see more law enforcement in the troubled area.

Property manager Sabrina Villanueva said it shouldn’t be mutually exclusive to have a progressive city and safety. She said the shooting suspects should not have been out and armed if they faced outstanding warrants.

“The gentlemen involved in the shooting had open warrants and they were prolific offenders, repeat offenders,” she said. “So there’s a list, people know who they are, the city needs to coordinate and get those people off the streets.”

Communications executive Wanda Herndon lives blocks away from where the shootings occurred, and said crime is not confined to that one corner.

“I think the crime is moving further and further in,” she said. “And I ask myself, am I just going to have to become a hermit? And go from my garage to the next garage and stay home? I don’t want to live like that – I don’t want to be scared. And I don’t want to die on my streets.”

Downtown Seattle Association CEO Jon Scholes thanked the Seattle police officers who rushed to the scene, noting that two of the officers “were here on emphasis patrols paid for by downtown property owners,” he said. “And we commend them for their heroics.”

Scholes said crimes against people increased 40% in the downtown core from 2016 to 2018, and he called on officials to quickly develop a new safety strategy for the neighborhood. He also urged people to bring their concerns — and their signs — to the Seattle City Council’s Public Safety Committee meeting Tuesday.