Shooting in Seattle protest zone leaves 1 dead, 1 critical

SEATTLE — A pre-dawn shooting in a park in Seattle’s protest zone killed a 19-year-old man and critically injured another person, authorities said Saturday.

The shooting happened about 2:30 a.m. in the area near the city’s downtown that is known as CHOP, which stands for “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest,” police said.

Officers responding to the shooting initially said they had trouble getting to the scene because they “were met by a violent crowd that prevented officers safe access to the victims,” police said on their blog. Video released later in the day by the Seattle Police appears to show officers arriving at the protest zone saying they want to get to the victim and entering as people yell at them that the victim is already gone.

Two males with gunshot wounds arrived in private vehicles at a hospital about 3 a.m., officials said. The 19-year-old man died, and the other person was in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

The suspect or suspects fled. Investigators had no description of the shooter or shooters as of Saturday afternoon, police said.

The CHOP zone is an area where protesters cordoned off several blocks near a police station in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood following demonstrations against police violence since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis several weeks ago.

Seattle police largely retreated from the zone after clashes with protesters. City officials have said they are still communicating with protest leaders, who had pledged to keep the peace in the zone.