Police enter Seattle protest zone
Officers investigate fatal shooting
Seattle police entered a police-free zone occupied by protesters to investigate a shooting that killed a 19-year-old man and injured another early Saturday morning, authorities confirmed.
Officers initially had trouble getting to the scene because they “were met by a violent crowd that prevented officers safe access to the victims,” according to a statement by the Seattle Police Department. The shooting took place in “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” — or CHAZ — a zone near downtown Seattle set aside for protesters against police brutality.
The police officers’ arrival into the zone, filmed by people occupying it, didn’t appear to show violence. Police later learned the victims were taken to Harborview Medical Center, a nearby trauma unit.
At about 3 a.m., two men with gunshot wounds were driven to the University of Washington affiliated hospital in private vehicles, hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg confirmed to The Washington Post. The 19-year-old died shortly after arrival while the other man is in critical condition in the intensive care unit, Gregg said.
The city said 9-1-1 calls placed about a half-hour apart indicated the men were shot a block away from each other.
Police said they are searching for the shooter or shooters and had no description to share as of Saturday morning. There is no known motive. Investigators gathered shell casings from the scene Saturday.
Protesters cordoned the area June 8 after Seattle Police vacated the East Precinct building in the city’s Capitol Hill following a week of clashes with demonstrators, who threw objects at officers, protesting the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In response, police used tear gas and other crowd control measures.
The zone, which is leaderless, has evolved to be now known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, or CHOP. Organizers have demanded city officials abolish the police department, investigate allegations of police brutality and pay reparations to victims of violence by police.
The occupants have remained mostly peaceful.