Seattle’s police chief resigned Thursday after days of questions about the release of information following a shooting at a food festival that left three people dead, including two bystanders . Mayor Katie Wilson accepted a letter of resignation from Police Chief Shon Barnes, she said in a statement released by the police department. The statement does not say why Barnes resigned.
Wilson told NBC affiliate KING of Seattle that “multiple factors” led to the change. “I’ll say that this decision was not solely due to the events of Sunday,” she told the station. “Multiple factors figured into this decision and into the conversation that the chief and I had.” Barnes, whom the previous mayor appointed to head the department in 2024, was questioned along with Wilson about initial reports that two suspects had been arrested after Sunday’s violence at the Bite of Seattle event, when only one had been arrested.
“We understand that people are angry. You should be. Everyone should be angry,” Barnes said at a news conference Monday.
There were also questions about a five-hour delay in the official release of more information in the wake of the shooting, which occurred around 6 p.m. Sunday. “We want to get out information as early and as often as possible.
It is unfortunate that sometimes in any situation, early information is sometimes incorrect,” Barnes said then. He said the department would look at how to do better in the future. Deputy Chief Andre Sayles was named interim police chief, the statement about the resignation said.
Wilson said in Thursday’s statement that “Chief Barnes has served this department and this city with dedication, and I am grateful for his service.” Barnes said, “It has been an honor to serve the Seattle Police Department and this city.” City Council President Joy Hollingsworth and council members Dan Strauss, Debora Juarez and Bob Kettle criticized the move as rash. “Having cycled through four police chiefs in just two and a half years, our priority must be stability, not further disruption,” they said in a joint statement. “The people of Seattle deserve reliable leadership, especially as we close out a busy summer of public events.” Barnes was the second Black police chief of Seattle.
He previously was chief of the Madison, Wisconsin, Police Department. Several Black community organizations, including the Seattle NAACP and the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, urged the mayor in a letter earlier Thursday not to remove Barnes. “The tragic fatal shooting at the Bite of Seattle was heartbreaking for our city, but Chief Barnes should not be made a scapegoat for the complex challenges of public safety,” the letter said, calling it “the wrong decision at the wrong time.” Barnes has faced criticism for spending time in Chicago, where his family lives.
Sgt. Patrick Michaud, a police spokesperson, said Thursday that Barnes has made four trips to Chicago this year and spent about 18 days in total traveling there. Barnes also has traveled to several police executive and recruitment conferences.
Barnes said Monday that he had been in Dallas for the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives conference when the shooting occurred. The Seattle Police Officers Guild, a union that has clashed with Wilson, criticized Wilson’s administration for what it called “confusion, mixed messages, and chaos surrounding Chief Barnes.” “Seattle doesn’t need another week of political drama. It needs leadership,” union President Kent Loux said.
Three people in all were killed in Sunday’s gunfire, police said: two bystanders and a 19-year-old who was one of the shooters. Four others were injured. Police continued to look for a third possible shooter Thursday.
Police arrested a 15-year-old suspect shortly after Sunday’s shooting, and they have called the 19-year-old who was killed an associate of that teenager. Police said in court documents that the arrested 15-year-old said “love you bro” as he passed the fatally shot 19-year-old. Bystanders were killed and injured and crowds ran from the gunfire at the annual three-day event at Seattle Center, the same complex as the city’s famous Space Needle, officials said.
Prosecutors have charged the 15-year-old with one count each of first-degree assault with a firearm enhancement and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Police said in court documents that the 15-year-old had a 9 mm handgun in his coat when he was arrested and that police saw him firing multiple times. The document described the gun as a Polymer80 firearm, which is sold in parts and assembled by the user.
But preliminary test results from that handgun appear to exclude it as the gun responsible for the deaths, police said in the court document, a probable cause statement filed Wednesday. Thirteen shell casings have been recovered, and investigators believe there were four handguns, police said in the document. Most were 9 mm, and four were .40-caliber, it said.
Joe Kottke is an assignment editor at NBC News covering domestic news, including politics, immigration, crime, entertainment and severe weather.
