Friday night, a Seattle police officer was pumping gas and refilling his cruiser's tank when gunshots rang out and one bullet connected with a sign directly over the officer's head.
According to KOMO News, officials said that the incident happened at a station in the 700 block of S Charles Street directly before 9 pm and after additional officers arrived on the scene and did discover a shell casing near a gas pump on the ground. The officer who was shot at did not get a description of the shooter but Seattle homicide detectives have opened an investigation.
The gas station is located near Seattle's Chinatown International District (CID). and Tanya Woo, a city council candidate and CID Community member said, "Feels like it's all background noise. We hear about shootings and overdoses and things that are outside of our control."
The outlet spoke to Woo on Saturday only a few streets down from the gas station where the shooting occurred, at a historic house that had been acquired by a local museum. She said that her neighborhood has been comparing increased crime but that they are working towards improved safety.
Seattle's violent crime rate reached a 15-year high in 2022, surpassing the record set in 2021, according to a yearly crime report released by the Seattle Police Department.
Violent crime increased by 4 percent compared to 2021, which was the previous all-time high in reported crimes. Totals in 2022 surpassed the 2021 record with 49,577 violent and property crimes. The department reported that aggravated assault and motor vehicle thefts were "significantly" high in 2022 compared to the five-year weighted average. 52 homicides were investigated in 2022, an increase from 41 homicides in 2021, the second-highest total homicides after 53 homicides were reported in 2020.
Over 600 officers have left the department since the city council defunded the police in response to the race riots in 2020.
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