SEATTLE — Small businesses in Seattle say gun violence is taking a toll, especially at one store where the owner, a beloved community leader, was shot and killed last year.
Keanna Rose Pickett says she and her husband, D’Vonne Pickett Jr., opened The Postman in 2018. A business that provides mailing services in Seattle’s Central District.
"Since last year, since the murder of D'Vonne Pickett Jr., my husband, in front of our business on Oct. 19, 2022, we have had a lot of changes,” said Pickett.
She went from running a business with her husband to keeping it going while grieving his loss. Then, more gun violence happened.
"Our windows were shot out just last month and so we were closed down for a week,” said Pickett. "I was ready to close all the way down."
King County records show there were 83 firearm homicide victims, 357 nonfatal shooting victims, and more than 1,600 incidents of shots fired last year.
This year, concerns about gunfire are growing for Marcella Donnelly-Lyons.
"This here is a warzone. At any given time, you are going to hear gunshots, you are going to see a fight,” said Donnelly-Lyons.
Donnelly-Lyons works at Tiny Tots Daycare Center off of Othello Street. Last month, five miles away, at a different Seattle daycare, a shooting that happened outside shattered the daycare's window.
"Childcare centers are like a family unit. We all know each other; we all care about each other,” said Donnelly-Lyons. "You would think churches, childcare, hospitals would be off limits, but there are no off limits anymore. The city needs to step up. We need bulletproof glass."
In the Central District, Pickett says she's moving, but just around the corner, to a new location that will open in the new year.
"With all of the shootings that were happening, I felt like it's my responsibility to choose to stand up and be brave and continue the dreams my husband and I had for the community, for my children,” said Pickett. “I think he is shining down and just proud.”