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King County Council member reacts to south Seattle shooting that killed sister of staff member

Councilmember Girmay Zahilay said the death of Nadia Kassa is "absolutely devastating."

SEATTLE — The professional and personal impact of gun violence intertwine for King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay.

"It's been such a heavy year. Every day, I wake up to more tragic news of gun violence," Councilmember Zahilay said. "A lot of it happens in my district. There was a mass shooting at Rainier Beach. There was a mass shooting the other day that ended up killing the sister of one of my staff members."

Nadia Kassa is his staffer's sister. She's one of three victims killed at a hookah lounge in south Seattle on August 20. 

Credit: Family of Nadia Kassa


"It's absolutely devastating. These are the good, kind, innocent people we're losing to gun violence. She had nothing to do with any of these feuds. She was just an innocent bystander who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time," Councilmember Zahilay said. 

As of Tuesday, no arrests were made. During a press conference on Sunday, Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz made it clear: shootings won't be prevented by police alone.

"I've been really focused on getting community groups involved and engaged to be able to combat violence in the community," Chief Diaz said on Sunday. 

Those are sentiments echoed by Councilmember Zahilay.

"It shouldn't just be the people who represent the districts where this is happening. It shouldn't just be communities who are at risk of being shot or shooting. Everybody needs to be paying attention to this issue," he said. 

In a social media post, the council member detailed strategies to reduce gun violence. He says this issue should receive the same attention as housing and homelessness.

This has been such a heavy year. I haven’t felt this overwhelmed since starting on the council in 2020 in the depths of...

Posted by Councilmember Girmay Zahilay on Monday, August 21, 2023

"I feel like the epidemic of gun violence is reaching a point of all out crisis and I want everybody to know we should have an all hands on deck response," he said.

The full interview with Councilmember Zahilay is below.

Here's my full interview with Councilmember Girmay Zahilay. Over the weekend, the sister of one of his staff members was killed in mass shooting. 30-year-old Nadia Kassa was laid to rest today. The councilmember gives his perspective on how our community needs to start addressing gun violence.

Posted by Cornelius Hocker KING 5 on Tuesday, August 22, 2023

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