At least one dead after shootings in Seattle’s autonomous zone

At least one person is dead and another is in critical condition after a reported shooting early Saturday morning in Seattle’s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ). 

The Seattle Police Department (SPD), which was driven out of the CHAZ by Black Lives Matter protesters last week, tweeted just before 7 a.m. that it was investigating a shooting in the area.

Police investigating shooting at 10th Avenue and East Pine. Will update with additional information when available.

— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) June 20, 2020

The department hasn’t released any other information about the shooting, with its spokeswoman telling The Seattle Times that she couldn’t confirm whether officers had faced hostility upon arriving at the scene. She said that the shooting happened around 2:20 a.m. near 10th Avenue and Pine Street.

Journalist Omari Salisbury tweet multiple pieces of information surrounding the shooting, including video recordings of the reported shooting.

According to Salisbury, Seattle police sent in an extraction team for the two shooting victims, who were receiving first aid from CHAZ volunteer medics.

Salisbury also tweeted that there were two different shootings that occurred within minutes of each other and a block apart.

Susan Gregg, a spokeswoman for Harborview Medical Center, where the victims were transported, confirmed to The Seattle Times that one of the victims had died, while the other was still in the ICU.

However, one of Salisbury’s tweets indicated that the victim who died was dead when the SPD extraction team arrived. 

#CHAZ / #CHOP – The @SeattlePD entered the zone with a force of about 10 officers. They asked the crowd to step back and that they were there to extract the victim out of the zone. The victim who was deceased at that time had just been transported a few minutes prior.

— Omari Salisbury (@Omarisal) June 20, 2020