information from King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg

196 people have been the victims of gun violence in the first half of 2021 according to King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg who released a report on Thursday.

“We are in a public health crisis, we are in a public safety crisis in those communities where gun violence is highly concentrated,” said Satterberg. “We collect this data with the understanding that we can share it with not just law enforcement but with the community at large and also with people who are interested in working with young people who are at risk of being involved in gun violence. This data helps us think about how to best direct investments into affected communities.” 

Here are the top takeaways from the report:

·We know that shootings are up county-wide because it’s the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office that does the data analysis.

o   Our Crime Strategies Unit collects information from the 39 law enforcement agencies and puts together the data map.

o   We do that work to make public health, informed decisions on how to work with communities to reduce gun violence.

·The major takeaway is that firearm violence (and particularly the number of shooting victims) rose in 2020 and has accelerated even more through the first half of 2021. 

·Through the first six months of 2021, the number of fatal shooting victims is up 48% and the number of nonfatal shooting victims is up 65% over the four-year average for the same time period from 2017-2020.

·These shootings continue to disproportionately impact people of color and particularly young black men.

80% of victims were people of color

Nearly half of all shooting victims were Black or African American

85% of the shooting victims are men;

36% are between 18-24

·This increase is not unique to King County. Nearly every major city, and many rural areas, have seen an increase in firearm violence since the start of 2020. There is no single explanation behind the increase, but the common explanations of the pandemic, the protests, and the prevalence of guns are all likely contributing factors.

Our office launched the Shots Fired project in 2017 to take a public health approach to gun violence — and through data analysis and our expanding community partnerships we are working to understand which individuals and communities are at highest risk, and utilize both prevention and intervention approaches to keep King County residents safe. Earlier this year, Satterberg testified in support of a $2 million gun violence prevention initiative to fund violence prevention grants for community organizations who are doing violence interruption work, especially among young people.

Number of murder cases charged through this point last year and in 2019 and 2018

-         The number of murder cases charged is determined by the number of cases referred to us by homicide investigators. When a case is referred to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, we review it independently. However, we can only review a case when it is referred – and there are many ongoing investigations.

o   Through July 21, 2021: 35

o   Through July 2020: 47

o   Through July in 2019: 31

o   Through July in 2018: 28

o   The above numbers include murders, manslaughters, and homicides by abuse. Filings are not the same as call outs; there are many more call outs than filings.

Here are detailed stats for the murder cases filed through July 12:

-         Of the 25 murder cases, we have victim data for 21 of them, collected by investigators. Of those, at least 15 of 21 (at least 71%) are people of color. (Data is from investigators.)

-          Of those murder cases charged this year from recent events: 

o   14 are shooting cases

o   7 are stabbings 

o   3 are fatal beatings

o   1 was a fatal arson 

-          Of those cases, seven are domestic violence cases. 

o   Four are intimate partners

o   Three are familial 

o   There also was one more case that was not charged: a murder-suicide of a parent who killed her child.

-         The number of murder cases charged is determined by the number of cases referred to us by homicide investigators. When a case is referred to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, we review it independently. However, we can only review a case when it is referred – and there are many ongoing investigations.

Number of homicide or potential homicide call-outs:

-         The 39 law enforcement agencies in King County have informed our office of 79 homicide or potential homicide scenes this year through July 20. (That includes all types, gun violence, stabbings, etc. – thought the majority are shooting deaths.) Those numbers are up. 

o   In 2016, for example, there were 69 of those call-outs

o   In 2017 there were 89 of those call-outs 

o   In 2018 there were 100 

o   In 2019 there were 90

o   Last year there were 146

-         In other words, we’ve had the same number of calls to potential King County homicides so far this year as we had in all of 2016. (Again, that includes not only shootings but all manners of death or potential death investigations.) 

-          We say potential because some of those victims survive.