Seattle police chief resigns after festival shooting response criticism

Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes resigned Thursday amid criticism of the city’s slow and confusing public response to a deadly shooting at the Bite of Seattle food festival that killed three people and injured four others.

Mayor Katie B. Wilson accepted Barnes’ resignation letter, according to a statement released by the police department. The statement did not say why Barnes resigned. Wilson appointed Deputy Chief Andre Sayles, a law enforcement veteran with more than two decades of experience, as interim chief.

“Chief Barnes has served this department and this city with dedication, and I am grateful for his service,” Wilson said in the statement.

Barnes said, “It has been an honor to serve the Seattle Police Department and this city.”

The resignation followed days of questions over the city’s handling of information after gunfire erupted around 6 p.m. Sunday at the annual three-day festival at Seattle Center, the complex that includes the Space Needle. Three people were killed: two bystanders and a 19-year-old whom police have described as one of the shooters. Four others were wounded, including a 2-year-old boy, The Guardian reported.

After an initial social media post announcing a shooting with multiple victims, police took nearly five hours to provide additional public information, including whether any active threat remained. Wilson initially announced that two people had been taken into custody, then later retracted that statement. Only one suspect, a 15-year-old, had been arrested.

“We understand that people are angry. You should be. Everyone should be angry,” Barnes said at a Monday news conference.

He also addressed the release of incorrect early information. “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, adding that the department would review how to improve.

Assistant Seattle Police Chief Tyrone Davis provided an update at about 11 p.m. Sunday during a news conference also attended by Wilson, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson and U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, The Guardian reported.

Police said officers arrested the 15-year-old shortly after the shooting. Court documents say at least one officer saw him firing into a crowd and quickly persuaded him to surrender. Prosecutors have charged the teenager with first-degree assault with a firearm enhancement and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Police said in court documents that the teenager had a 9mm handgun in his coat when he was arrested and that officers saw him fire multiple times. The gun was described as a Polymer80 firearm, sold in parts and assembled by the user. Preliminary test results appear to exclude that handgun as the weapon responsible for the deaths, police said in a court document filed Wednesday. Police were still searching Thursday for a third possible shooter, or at least one other person, according to the reports.

Barnes, appointed in December 2024 by former Mayor Bruce Harrell after serving as police chief in Madison, Wisconsin, was Seattle’s second Black police chief. Several Black community organizations, including the Seattle NAACP and the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, urged Wilson earlier Thursday not to remove him.

“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 groups wrote, calling his removal “the wrong decision at the wrong time.” The Guardian reported that the groups credited Barnes with improving relations between the department and the community, helping reduce gun violence and strengthening department operations.

Some city leaders criticized the resignation as destabilizing. City Council President Joy Hollingsworth and council members Dan Strauss, Debora Juarez and Bob Kettle said in a joint statement: “Having cycled through four police chiefs in just two and a half years, our priority must be stability, not further disruption. The people of Seattle deserve reliable leadership, especially as we close out a busy summer of public events.”

Barnes also had faced criticism for time spent in Chicago, where his family lives. Police spokesperson Sgt. Patrick Michaud said Thursday that Barnes made four trips to Chicago this year, totaling about 18 days, and also traveled to police executive and recruitment conferences. Barnes said Monday he was in Dallas for a National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives conference when the shooting occurred.