Aurora Avenue neighbors press Seattle leaders over nightly gunfire tied to turf wars

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:05]The gunfire can be relentless along this stretch of Seattle's Aurora Avenue.

[00:00:15]One neighbor says a shooting just days ago put his family at risk. Those gunshots continued. I jumped over, covered my wife, put my hand on my baby in his bassinet. Little did I know that some of those shots had hit my house 2 ft above where my baby's bassinet was.

[00:00:32]Neighbors are exhausted and angry that city leaders have yet to deliver on their calls for public safety. Hear so many shots. I mean, just last night I heard a shot go out.

[00:00:42]>> A group of residents pressed their points at Seattle City Hall to help put a face on the frustrations. In the meantime, some neighbors are blocking streets themselves using planter boxes as makeshift barricades. There are barriers on a few of the streets to protect the neighborhood from pimps and johns circling the blocks, which is leading directly to shootings. The city has used Jersey barriers on other streets for the same purpose, and the mayor's office says it may expand that program. Police are running late-night patrols as well, but Councilmember Robert Kettle says more needs to be done. But we have to get our SPD staffing up. We have to get our detectives going again on this. We need to have better partnership with county and state and net and federal law enforcement because this is not just a local issue.