Seattle police chief resigns after criticism over shooting response

Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes resigned Thursday after days of criticism over how his department handled the release of information after a shooting at the Bite of Seattle food festival. Mayor Katie Wilson said she accepted his resignation and named Deputy Chief Andre Sayles as interim chief.

The shooting unfolded Sunday at Seattle Center near the Space Needle and killed three people. At least four to five others were injured, depending on which early account is used, a gap that reflected how quickly the public record changed as investigators sorted through the scene. Police said a suspect was taken into custody soon after the shooting, and later reporting said a 15-year-old had been arrested while a third suspect remained at large.

The uproar centered not only on the violence itself but on the department’s pace in sharing accurate information. Seattle faced sharp criticism for delaying details about the shooting, and the dispute hardened into a broader crisis of trust as families, festivalgoers and city residents tried to understand what had happened at one of the city’s biggest summer events. When police information lags behind a fast-moving public safety emergency, the vacuum is quickly filled by anger, confusion and rumor.

Investigators said the shooting may have been gang-related, adding another layer of sensitivity to a case already drawing national attention because it struck a crowded public festival in a major downtown public space. The decision to change leadership came after hours of speculation about whether Barnes would step down, and several supporters said he had initially resisted Wilson’s request that he resign. The reason for his departure was not publicly disclosed.

Wilson’s move put Sayles, a longtime senior leader in the Seattle Police Department, in charge at a moment when the city’s credibility on emergency communication was under scrutiny. The episode raised hard questions about whether Seattle’s response met the basic transparency standards expected in a mass-casualty investigation: rapid confirmation, clear updates as facts change, and straight talk about what police know and do not know. With three people dead, multiple injuries and conflicting counts in circulation, the damage extended beyond one chief’s tenure to the public’s confidence in the city’s ability to communicate in a crisis.