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Classes canceled after teen was shot, killed near Garfield High School

The teen was shot by a suspect after attempting to break up a fight, Seattle deputy chief says.

SEATTLE — A teenager who was shot near Garfield High School in Seattle on Thursday afternoon after attempting to break up a fight between two other people has died, according to police.

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) said despite life-saving efforts, the 17-year-old student died at Harborview Medical Center.

Police said in a social media post on X just after 12:30 p.m. that officers were investigating a shooting in the 400 block of 23rd Avenue.

SPD deputy chief Eric Barden said there was an altercation between high school-aged students. The victim tried to break up the fight when the suspect fired multiple shots at the victim.

Police believe a high school-aged male suspect fled the school after the shooting. The suspect has not been found.  

“The bottom line is, we have too many guns on our streets,” said Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell at a press conference on Thursday afternoon. "Until we address the barrage of guns in our city, we’ll never be able to make sustainable progress."

Harrell and interim Police Chief Sue Rahr said SPD will increase patrols in the area to provide a sense of safety and to protect the community, not to over-police.

Deputy Chief Barden said detectives remain on scene processing information and continuing to investigate. 

"This is an extraordinary tragedy for the community," Barden said. "It is the collective community's responsibility to take care of our young people - take care of our youth. And unfortunately, gun violence emerged again today at our high school."

Seattle Public Schools (SPS) said in a statement shots were fired in the school parking lot during lunchtime. Garfield High School was placed on lockdown for about two hours until it was lifted at 3:15 p.m. Nova and Washington Middle School were sheltering in place during that time.

Police said to call the SPD Violent Crime Tip Line at 206-233-5000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS with any information about the shooting. The public is advised to leave the area.

Garfield High School staff announced classes will be canceled on Friday, June 7 and Monday, June 10. That includes all after-school activities and district transportation. For a full list of which school resources will be available, visit Garfield High School's website.

Officials and community advocates joined Harrell at the Thursday press conference held at Bishop Reggie Witherspoon's church in Seattle.

He expressed pain over the "tragedy of epidemic proportion."

“We’re on the verge of losing an entire generation of young people,” Witherspoon said.

Friday, June 7 is National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Mayor Harrell invited the community to mourn and honor those lost to gun violence at a new memorial garden at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park.

Recent shootings

The shooting Thursday is the latest in a spate of violence near the campus in the last few months.

Two months ago authorities said people in two cars were shooting at each other near the campus. Police said calls came in shortly after 1 p.m. on April 23 to report a shooting on 22nd Avenue and East Jefferson Street.

Investigators said the vehicles involved are described as a gray Toyota and a blue Toyota. No one was hit by gunfire, but police said a nearby structure was damaged and the blue car involved was damaged.

"It's not safe out here," said Jeff Leonard, who was working in the area at the time of the shooting. "It's not safe. It's become normalized that shootings just happen out here."

A teenage girl was injured on March 13 in a drive-by shooting while she was at a bus stop near the high school.

Police officers and medics responded to the area of East Jefferson Street and 23rd Avenue in Seattle around 2:45 p.m. on March 13. The location was near Garfield High School, but officials said the shooting did not take place at the school.

Seattle Fire Department crews treated an approximately 17-year-old girl who was shot while she was waiting at the bus stop across the street from Ezell's Famous Chicken, according to officials. She was taken to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police said she was not the intended target in the drive-by shooting that sent people running for safety. Garfield High School sheltered in place, something students and parents said has become a norm.

A week after the teenager was shot, dozens of parents protested outside Garfield High School concerned about ongoing gun violence.

“We get text from our kids at school saying, 'Hey I’m in shelter in place. I was out on the field for lunch, There were shots adjacent to the field and we all got pulled inside,'" said Kathleen Lendvay, who has a sophomore at Garfield High School. "You don’t get used to it."

Lendvay said she and other parents have compiled the number of times that’s happened in the last 12 months.

“Six times now we’ve been in the case where we’re getting a message from the school message system or from other parents saying there’s a shelter in place or shots around the school,” Lendvay said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 

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