One person is dead…
The cops have idea who the shooter was….
The victim was carried out of the area so that the cops and fire medics didn’t have to go to the scene…
Something is VERY WRONG there…..
The protester-run district in Seattle known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone or the Capitol Hill Organized Protest area has been celebrated as a “no cop” zone where the community takes care of public safety. Since the city made the unusual decision last month to abandon a police station in the neighborhood, the police have largely stayed out to avoid clashing with the protesters, to the point of asking people who call for assistance, in all but the most serious situations, to meet them at the edge of the zone.
But the viability of that approach came into question after an eruption of gunfire inside the zone early Saturday, when one person died and another was critically injured.
Fire Department medics responding to the shooting stopped a block away, saying they needed to wait until the police declared the scene to be safe for them to enter. By the time the police tried to move in and do that, it appears that some 20 minutes had passed. Protesters expressed anger that the officers were there even though the first shooting victim had already been taken away by volunteer medics, who expressed frustration at the delay in getting aid.
A Seattle Police Department statement said that detectives were investigating the shooting “despite the challenges presented by the circumstances.” The police said that the suspect or suspects in the shooting had fled, and that the motive was unknown.
“Officers attempted to locate a shooting victim but were met by a violent crowd that prevented officers’ safe access to the victims,” the police statement said.
The city has been working to alter barricades surrounding in the zone to give access to emergency personnel access. But John Moore, 23, one of the volunteer medics on the scene early Saturday, said the Fire Department would not come in.
Instead, Mr. Moore said, the group planned to meet the Fire Department at a previously designated intersection outside of the zone. But after getting the wounded person in a truck while continuing CPR, the group arrived at the intersection to find nobody waiting there. So they continued to a hospital.
Videos posted on social media by Converge Media showed the volunteer medics racing through crowds of onlookers in the pre-dawn darkness. Tensions were high as some protesters appeared to object to the arrival of the police.
As armed officers in riot gear entered the zone, people screamed, “The victim left the premises!” At one point, protesters briefly surrounded a police car and then yelled, as the vehicle sped away, “Whose streets? Our streets!”
Gov. Jay Inslee said on Saturday that he was saddened to hear of a shooting and was still gathering information about what had occurred. But he said it was clear that the government needed to be able to provide protection for all citizens, including in that zone, and that “other options” might need to be explored.
“We have to have a way to provide police services and fire services in that area,” Mr. Inslee said….
Update….
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said Monday that officials will move to wind down the city’s autonomous protest zone following two shootings in the area over the weekend.
Police officers will also soon return to the abandoned precinct inside the so-called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, where demonstrators have camped out for the last two weeks.
“The cumulative impacts of the gatherings and protests and the nighttime atmosphere and violence has led to increasingly difficult circumstances for our businesses and residents,” Durkan told reporters.
“The impacts have increased and the safety has decreased.”
The mayor’s announcement came after the cop-free “CHOP zone” descended into chaos over the weekend.
A 19-year-old man was killed during a shooting inside the blocks-long span on Saturday night. And a 17-year-old was struck in the arm during another shooting on Sunday.
Durkan said the violence is distracting from the work of thousands of peaceful protesters seeking to address racial inequality and police brutality.
“The gun violence unfolding at night is not only wrong, it also is undermining and distracting from the message for change we are hearing in the street and in so many peaceful protests,” she said.
“We are working with the community to bring this to an end,” Durkan added. “Capitol Hill belongs to everyone in this city.”…