SEATTLE — Seattle police detectives were seen working the neighborhood Wednesday to find out who fired shots that hit and killed a teenager in Seattle’s Central District Monday evening.
Police say the shooting came in as a 911 came in around 7:40 p.m. Monday. Responding officers found a minor with gunshot wounds near Martin Luther King Jr. Way and tried to save his life, but the victim died on the scene.
Appollonia Washington's 15-year-old son went to school at Garfield High School with the young victim.
"It takes all of us collectively to figure out what's going on with our youth in our community," Washington said. "Yesterday was a bit devastating for our community, our children the families, just all lovin' on one another and asking like, 'Why? what else needs to be done to save our youth in our community?'"
The latest fatal shooting comes as the U.S. Surgeon General this year declared firearm violence a public health crisis in the country. One that’s become the leading cause of death for children and teens.
In the last two years, gun violence has hit the Garfield High School area hard: two teens have been shot and injured near the school, and now two have been shot and killed.
"For me as a parent, it's like, wow, another child from our community, what can we do? What needs to be done to stop these constant patterns of us losing our children?" Washington said.
After the fatal shooting at Garfield in June, the mayor and other city officials vowed to address violence in the neighborhood. With no one in custody in that shooting or this week's, parents like Appollonia are left watching their children even closer.
"That child came from playing basketball with other peers. Having a good day and to be gunned down on their way home is tragic," she said.