1 killed, boy critically injured in Seattle protest zone gunfire

SEATTLE — One man was killed and a teenager was wounded early Monday in Seattle’s “occupied” protest zone — the second deadly shooting in the area that local officials have vowed to change after business complaints and criticism from President Donald Trump.

The violence that came just over a week after another shooting in the zone left one person dead and another wounded was “dangerous and unacceptable” police Chief Carmen Best said.

“Enough is enough,” Best told reporters. “We need to be able to get back into the area.”

Demonstrators have occupied several blocks around the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct and a park for about two weeks after police abandoned the precinct following standoffs and clashes with protesters calling for racial justice and an end to police brutality.

Witnesses reported seeing a white Jeep near one of the makeshift barriers around the protest zone about 3 a.m. Monday, just before the shooting, a police statement said.

Callers to 911 said several people fired shots into the vehicle. Police said two people who were probably the occupants of the vehicle were transported to a local hospital.

A man was pronounced dead at Harborview Medical Center. The second victim, a 14-year-old boy, was hospitalized with gunshot injuries. He was reported in critical condition.

“Detectives searched the Jeep for evidence, but it was clear the crime scene had been disturbed,” the police statement said.

In the previous fatal shooting in the zone, a 19-year-old man was killed June 20 and a 33-year-old man was wounded.

Best said that the shootings are obscuring the message of racial justice that protesters say they are promoting.

Mayor Jenny Durkan