SEATTLE — Students returned to Garfield High School on Tuesday morning, days after a shooting in front of the building took the life of a 17-year-old classmate, Amarr Murphy-Paine.
The school hosted an 8 a.m. orientation for parents where Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and Garfield High School Principal Tarance Hart spoke in front of a crowd, vowing to keep students safe as they finish out the school year.
"It is our time to make sure in the next nine days until school is out that our students have safe passage from their homes to this place," Hart said. "Our hearts are out for the families in the community and everyone that's been impacted by this."
Last week's shooting was just the latest to have happened outside of the high school. A shootout took place between two cars near the school’s campus in April and a drive-by shooting injured a 17-year-old girl who was waiting at a bus stop in March.
"There are too many guns out here in the wrong hands, and we as a community -- you have to realize that one of our first, heavenly, divine purposes is to protect those who are vulnerable: our students," Harrell said.
Harrell said his office is taking a four-pronged approach to addressing gun violence in the neighborhood, including investments in people and organizations. Harrell said he was devoting more resources to the shooting investigation.
"I am satisfied that we are devoting a lot of resources to make sure we get to the bottom of it," Harrell said. "Not only did we lose a community member who had incredible potential - a father lost his son, a brother lost a brother."
The deadly shooting is renewing calls to make Seattle schools safer.
"We do not need cops in our schools,” said Natalya McConnell, Franklin High senior who is with the Seattle Student Union.
Instead, McConnell wants more mental health resources districtwide.
“There should be more social workers, school academic counselors, and school therapists in every single high school,” McConnell said. "I am not going to feel hopeful until every student in the school district has access to school mental health counselors."
According to the mayor’s office, the City’s 2023-2024 budget funds $9.6 million to support youth mental health resources and school-based health centers. This includes a $4 million investment added by Mayor Harrell following the shooting at Ingraham High School.
In a statement, the Mayor’s office said, “We will be making an announcement in the next week about our investment strategy around youth mental health – this includes expanding resources for school-based health clinics and telehealth access for students in need.”
Last week a group gathered in front of the school in the aftermath of the shooting to demand lasting change from Seattle Public Schools, the city and the police department, saying they felt the response to gun violence in the neighborhood was not proportionate to the magnitude of the issue.
“In this particular situation, in this particular circumstance, they’re not paying attention and children are dying or being shot at, all the time,” said Alyssa Marsh, a parent whose son was slated to go to Garfield in the fall. She and her son are currently on waiting lists to enroll in other high schools in the district.
Police are still searching for the suspect they believe is responsible. They are asking anyone with information to contact the SPD Violent Crime Tip Line at (206) 233-5000, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.