SPD Still Looking for Suspects in Bite of Seattle Shooting Amid Questions About Chief Barnes’s Whereabouts on Sunday

In a fourth press conference this week, Mayor Katie Wilson and Seattle Police Department Chief Shon Barnes confirmed that one of the victims of Sunday’s Bite of Seattle shooting was involved in the shooting. Barnes also responded to controversy about his whereabouts on Sunday.

Wilson started by acknowledging the victims: Ashley Whitehead, 56, and Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44. The third person killed in the shooting, Junior Cee Niko Semo, 19, is believed to have been involved in what SPD confirmed was “targeted gang-related violence.” The four people injured in the shooting were bystanders, Barnes said. 

The police have recovered three weapons, including one illegal ghost gun, which does not have a serial number, and believe at least two of the weapons were used in the shooting. The 15-year-old detained by police had the ghost gun in his possession.

SPD is still searching for other suspects who were involved in the shooting. Contrary to information shared Monday, Barnes did not mention a “third shooter” and instead stated SPD was looking for other potential “suspects.” 

The cops are combing through all available camera footage from the area from the Seattle Center’s cameras, local businesses, and witnesses. Homicide detectives and SPD’s digital forensics team are leading the effort, Barnes said. “We actually have a team of specialized investigators that know how to access, find, and download camera footage,” Barnes said. “This is not the case for a lot of police departments.”

He also commended SPD’s ability to “disarm” the 15-year-old suspect “without a use of force.”

The investigation is ongoing. If you are a witness or have any information, SPD asks that you call their tip line (206) 233-5000. If you were the person who went to a University of Washington Medical Center hospital on Sunday with a gunshot wound, the cops would like to speak to you to see if you are a potential victim of this shooting and if you have any information. The person was discharged before SPD could contact them and SPD cannot compel the hospital to release personal information. 

Barnes also fielded questions about whether he was in Seattle at the time of the shooting and how often he’s in Seattle. PubliCola reported that Barnes was out of town over the weekend and that he planned to be away from Seattle until mid-August. According to PubliCola, Barnes has spent many weekends out of town. He rents an apartment in Seattle and returns home to Chicago often where his wife and children live full time. However, this weekend he was attending a conference for the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives in Dallas. 

This has come to a head this week. When asked about PubliCola’s reporting by a South Seattle Emerald reporter on Monday, Barne’s got heated and had to be pulled away by staff. At Tuesday’s press conference, PubliCola editor Erica Barnett asked Barnes about the weeks he planned to be away from Seattle in August.

“I did not plan on being out of town the entire month of August,” Barnes said. “If you said the entire, yeah, no, not at all. I have some medical procedure on Friday. If I’m good to go, I’ll be in the office as my usual cheerful and bubbly self. But if not, I’ll take all the time that I need to make sure that I’m okay if that’s alright with you.” 

When asked by another reporter how often Barnes is going to Chicago, he said, “I don’t travel as often as I would like to” and that any reports that he’s gone every weekend are “grossly misstated” because he doesn’t have “that kind of money.” PubliCola reported last summer that in his first four months on the job Barnes spent most weekends out of town, blocking off most Friday afternoons, some of these blocks he labeled as “travel” or “admin block.”

“I love the neighborhood that I live in [in Seattle]. I love my community. They love me,” Barnes said. “They know me. They see me all the time. I don’t love the rent that I’m paying, but affordability is something that we’re working on. Isn’t that right, mayor?” Barnes earns $373,000 a year. 

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