Two Seattle Schools' Students Shot Dead Near Rainier Beach High School
This terrible event occurred at a bus stop in the Rainier Valley last Friday around 4 pm; the students appeared to be teens and part of the Rainier Beach High School community.
This led to a two-hour delay of start at South Shore PK-8 which is very near to RBHS. As well, Sugiyama High School and Interagency Academy SE started classes at 12:30 pm today. All weekend activities at those schools were canceled.
Superintendent Ben Shuldiner, who began his first day on the job Sunday, “has been clear that strengthening safety measures across the district is a top priority, and that work begins immediately,” according to the school district.eattle police investigating the homicides believe the shooting was targeted and have said they do not think there is a broader threat to the community.
The male teen victims have not yet been publicly identified although their families did tell people who they were and there was a vigil for them on Saturday.
SPS is working with the Seattle Police Department and city officials to “increase presence and patrols in the area” for the week ahead, according to the news release, and has organized individual and group crisis counseling for students.
“Seattle owes our children more than words,” Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said in a statement posted Sunday on Instagram. “We owe them safety, care, and a future filled with possibility.”
SPS is also asking anyone who may have information about the shooting to contact the Seattle police tip line at 206-233-5000, where tips may be submitted anonymously.
KUOW reports that the "suspect fled the scene on foot."
From the South Seattle Emerald:
The two teens were friends. One of them had just turned 18. Both families attended the vigil and spoke. One of the mothers said she had lost her own mother to violence. Now her baby is gone.From the West Seattle Blog:
Today, Superintendent Schuldiner was given the oath of office by Board president Gina Topp at Mercer International Middle School.
He then took the microphone, starting by saying that last night he had visited the neighborhood where the deadly shootings happened. He then said he was asked about his hope for the year, and turned the question to, “what is OUR hope?”
He repeated what he’d said during the interview process – he wants SPS to be the best urban public-school district in America. Safety is vital; so is “raising the bar,” because he believes students will rise to what’s expected of them. He did not speak for long, saying that he didn’t believe anyone really wanted “to hear me speak” – that educators, students, and families instead wanted to get on with the work of education. He said “the collective we” is what will “make this district terrific.”
He answered a number of safety questions at the press conference.
I do want to state that I believe the shooter was likely another student. I have to wonder if, like the Garfield shooting no one has any idea who the shooter is or how they got a gun. This shooting, like the one at Garfield, was in the daytime so pretty brazen. I hope anyone who knows anything will come forward.
I also hope if parents have guns in their homes that they secure them.
Comments