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https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/50-people-died-from-homicidal-violence-in-seattle-in-2020-the-largest-number-in-a-quarter-century-police-chief-says/
50 people died from homicidal violence in Seattle in 2020, the largest
number in a quarter century, police chief says
Jan. 11, 2021 at 7:31 pm
SPD Interim Chief Adrian Diaz speaks at a news conference Monday to
discuss crime statistics from 2020. (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)
SPD Interim Chief Adrian Diaz speaks at a news conference Monday to
discuss crime statistics from 2020. (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)
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Sara Jean Green By Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporter
Calling 2020 a year like no other, interim Seattle police Chief Adrian
Diaz said Monday his department’s homicide detectives investigated 50
homicides last year, representing a 61% increase over the 31 people
killed as a result of homicidal violence in the city in 2019.
Citing data that shows homicides across the country were up 36% in 2020
compared to the previous year, Diaz said Seattle’s 50 homicides were the
most investigated in the city in 26 years.
Sgt. Randy Huserik, a spokesperson for the Seattle Police Department
(SPD), said the number did not include the investigation into the June
double-shooting of Jessica Lewis, 35, and her boyfriend, Austin Wenner,
27, whose dismembered bodies were found in several bags that washed
ashore on Alki Beach. Though their deaths were investigated by SPD
homicide detectives, it was determined they were killed in Burien. In
August, King County prosecutors charged the couple’s landlord, Michael
Lee Dudley, with two counts of second-degree murder.
Also not included in the count are the two men, Shaun Fuhr and Terry
Caver, killed in confrontations with Seattle police last year, Huserik said.
According to a database compiled by The Seattle Times, which has tracked
homicides committed in King County since 2016, there were 48 homicide
victims in Seattle in 2020, plus two others killed in officer-involved
shootings. The newspaper’s count includes Lewis and Wenner’s deaths.
The discrepancy between SPD’s homicide tally and the newspaper’s could
not immediately be reconciled.
Total Seattle homicides
2020 — 50 homicides (up 61%)
2019 — 31 homicides
Source: SPD
Diaz commended officers, detectives and crime-scene investigators for
their work in bringing justice to the families of those killed, saying
suspects have been identified or arrested in a majority of the cases.
Most of last year’s homicide victims were men between the ages of 18 and
49, and 49% of victims were Black, the chief said. Black people are
historically overrepresented among homicide victims: Only about 7% of
Seattle’s population is Black.
Sixty percent of the 50 homicides were committed with firearms, down
from 69% in 2019, Diaz said.
Seattle homicides committed with a gun
2020– 60% of all homicides
2019 — 66% of all homicides
Source: SPD
Seven of the homicides were the result of domestic violence, one more
than in 2019, according to the chief.
“I’m not going to go into the multiple theories I’m aware of for why we
and other cities had such a large one-year increase. There’s no one
clear explanation,” said Diaz, who noted the coronavirus pandemic led to
business and school closures, and saw most people radically change their
behaviors as a result of stay-home orders.
Because of the extraordinary events of 2020, Diaz said he wasn’t putting
much stock in the year-over-year spike in homicides compared with
longer-term crime stats.
But he did say Seattle police officers took more than 1,000 firearms off
the streets for the fourth year in a row. They also continue to collect
shell casings from shooting scenes and submit data to the Shots Fired
project spearheaded by King County prosecutors. That project has been
collecting shooting data since 2017 with the goal of identifying trends
and informing public health programs to intervene in the lives of people
considered most at risk for being a victim or perpetrator of gun violence.
Of the casings SPD submitted to the National Integrated Ballistics
Information Network, which is run by the federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and is used to identify shell
casings fired by the same weapon, 240 casings were linked to other
shootings. Of those, more than 150 were directly linked to crimes in
Seattle, said Diaz.
He said police are working with King County prosecutors, federal
prosecutors and the ATF to renew regional task forces aimed at taking
dangerous people off the streets while partnering with public health
officials to prevent and respond to gun violence.
“We are focused on the individuals we know are carrying guns, calling
shots and pulling triggers,” Diaz said. “We know that associations with
guns increases the risk of being injured or killed. To build the
community capacity that can prevent future violence, we have to stop the
bleeding right now.”
By the end of 2020, SPD saw the number of shootings begin to trend
downward and Diaz said police officers are committed to doing their part
in reducing gun violence.
Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or ***@seattletimes.com; on Twitter:
@SJGTimes.
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https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/50-people-died-from-homicidal-violence-in-seattle-in-2020-the-largest-number-in-a-quarter-century-police-chief-says/
50 people died from homicidal violence in Seattle in 2020, the largest
number in a quarter century, police chief says
Jan. 11, 2021 at 7:31 pm
SPD Interim Chief Adrian Diaz speaks at a news conference Monday to
discuss crime statistics from 2020. (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)
SPD Interim Chief Adrian Diaz speaks at a news conference Monday to
discuss crime statistics from 2020. (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)
Skip Ad
Sara Jean Green By Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporter
Calling 2020 a year like no other, interim Seattle police Chief Adrian
Diaz said Monday his department’s homicide detectives investigated 50
homicides last year, representing a 61% increase over the 31 people
killed as a result of homicidal violence in the city in 2019.
Citing data that shows homicides across the country were up 36% in 2020
compared to the previous year, Diaz said Seattle’s 50 homicides were the
most investigated in the city in 26 years.
Sgt. Randy Huserik, a spokesperson for the Seattle Police Department
(SPD), said the number did not include the investigation into the June
double-shooting of Jessica Lewis, 35, and her boyfriend, Austin Wenner,
27, whose dismembered bodies were found in several bags that washed
ashore on Alki Beach. Though their deaths were investigated by SPD
homicide detectives, it was determined they were killed in Burien. In
August, King County prosecutors charged the couple’s landlord, Michael
Lee Dudley, with two counts of second-degree murder.
Also not included in the count are the two men, Shaun Fuhr and Terry
Caver, killed in confrontations with Seattle police last year, Huserik said.
According to a database compiled by The Seattle Times, which has tracked
homicides committed in King County since 2016, there were 48 homicide
victims in Seattle in 2020, plus two others killed in officer-involved
shootings. The newspaper’s count includes Lewis and Wenner’s deaths.
The discrepancy between SPD’s homicide tally and the newspaper’s could
not immediately be reconciled.
Total Seattle homicides
2020 — 50 homicides (up 61%)
2019 — 31 homicides
Source: SPD
Diaz commended officers, detectives and crime-scene investigators for
their work in bringing justice to the families of those killed, saying
suspects have been identified or arrested in a majority of the cases.
Most of last year’s homicide victims were men between the ages of 18 and
49, and 49% of victims were Black, the chief said. Black people are
historically overrepresented among homicide victims: Only about 7% of
Seattle’s population is Black.
Sixty percent of the 50 homicides were committed with firearms, down
from 69% in 2019, Diaz said.
Seattle homicides committed with a gun
2020– 60% of all homicides
2019 — 66% of all homicides
Source: SPD
Seven of the homicides were the result of domestic violence, one more
than in 2019, according to the chief.
“I’m not going to go into the multiple theories I’m aware of for why we
and other cities had such a large one-year increase. There’s no one
clear explanation,” said Diaz, who noted the coronavirus pandemic led to
business and school closures, and saw most people radically change their
behaviors as a result of stay-home orders.
Because of the extraordinary events of 2020, Diaz said he wasn’t putting
much stock in the year-over-year spike in homicides compared with
longer-term crime stats.
But he did say Seattle police officers took more than 1,000 firearms off
the streets for the fourth year in a row. They also continue to collect
shell casings from shooting scenes and submit data to the Shots Fired
project spearheaded by King County prosecutors. That project has been
collecting shooting data since 2017 with the goal of identifying trends
and informing public health programs to intervene in the lives of people
considered most at risk for being a victim or perpetrator of gun violence.
Of the casings SPD submitted to the National Integrated Ballistics
Information Network, which is run by the federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and is used to identify shell
casings fired by the same weapon, 240 casings were linked to other
shootings. Of those, more than 150 were directly linked to crimes in
Seattle, said Diaz.
He said police are working with King County prosecutors, federal
prosecutors and the ATF to renew regional task forces aimed at taking
dangerous people off the streets while partnering with public health
officials to prevent and respond to gun violence.
“We are focused on the individuals we know are carrying guns, calling
shots and pulling triggers,” Diaz said. “We know that associations with
guns increases the risk of being injured or killed. To build the
community capacity that can prevent future violence, we have to stop the
bleeding right now.”
By the end of 2020, SPD saw the number of shootings begin to trend
downward and Diaz said police officers are committed to doing their part
in reducing gun violence.
Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or ***@seattletimes.com; on Twitter:
@SJGTimes.
Most Read Local Stories
Move over, murder hornets: There’s a new bug in town — and it’s coming
for your lawn VIEW
Politics and protest news updates, January 11: First day of new
legislative session begins in Olympia, Democrats push toward Trump
impeachment VIEW
Rep. Pramila Jayapal tests positive for coronavirus after Capitol siege
but says she 'will not rest'
Seattle man charged after allegedly punching federal officer
'repeatedly' in U.S. Capitol siege