Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes resigned on July 30 after criticism of the city's delayed and inaccurate public updates on a festival shooting. Preliminary ballistics did not match the bullets that killed two bystanders to the gun carried by the arrested 15-year-old.

Mayor Katie Wilson's office said it accepted Barnes's resignation and appointed Deputy Chief Andre Sayles as interim chief. Sayles has more than 20 years of law-enforcement experience and joined the Seattle Police Department in 2025.

Five-hour information gap preceded resignation

The July 26 gunfire erupted near the end of the Bite of Seattle food festival at Seattle Center, beneath the Space Needle. Three people died, including a 19-year-old believed to have taken part in the shooting, and four bystanders were wounded, including a 2-year-old boy.

The Associated Press reported that police issued no fuller public update for nearly five hours after an initial social-media post, leaving unanswered whether there was an ongoing threat. Wilson said two people had been taken into custody, then retracted the statement because police had arrested one person.

Barnes was attending a law-enforcement conference outside Seattle when the shooting occurred. The AP reported that at least six members of the Seattle City Council publicly supported him, while several Black community organizations rallied against his removal. Barnes said in the mayor's announcement that he hoped the transition would return the department's focus to youth gun violence.

Police tape blocks access to an outdoor area (illustrative image)
Police continued searching for other people and weapons believed to be connected to the shooting. Photo by Srujan J. on Pexels. (Illustrative image)

Preliminary tests leave fatal shots unattributed

Police said an officer saw the 15-year-old firing an untraceable gun into the crowd before the teenager surrendered. Prosecutors charged the teenager with first-degree assault with a firearm enhancement and unlawful possession of a handgun by a person under 18.

Court documents described by the AP said preliminary testing found that bullets recovered from the two killed bystanders did not match the teenager's gun. The findings did not establish who fired the fatal shots or which weapon was responsible.

Shell casings indicated that four weapons had been fired. Police recovered three guns, but testing indicated only two of those had been fired, leaving two weapons used in the exchange unaccounted for. Investigators were still trying to identify at least one other person believed to have taken part.

Adult-court request remains undecided

Prosecutors asked a judge to move the 15-year-old's case to adult court, a process the AP said could take months and would include arguments from both sides. The teenager's public defender said the defense would oppose the request. The filing of a request did not mean the transfer had been approved.

The same AP report corrected an earlier uncertainty about a possible additional casualty: the Seattle Police Department said on July 29 that there was no eighth victim. Police continued to investigate the shooting as possibly gang-related, while the preliminary ballistic results left the deaths of the two bystanders unresolved.