A massive firefight occurred early Sunday morning in one of Seattle’s most liberal neighborhoods, according to the local police department.
The Seattle Police Department (SPD) responded to calls at 2:30 a.m. Sunday that claimed multiple people were involved in a gunfight with over 40 gunshots reported in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. No individuals were injured in the incident, KIRO 7 reported.
Sunday’s incident occurred two days after Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell pledged to combat the city’s violent crime problem, KIRO 7 reported.
“The fact of the matter, we have seen an increase in violent crime,” Harrell said, according to KIRO 7. “When I see what I continue to see out here, I can’t sleep at night.”
Detectives are now working with local businesses to recover surveillance video that captured the firefight, according to SPD.
The gunfight has local restaurant owners rethinking whether they should keep their businesses in the area after a recent surge in violent crime, KIRO 7 reported. Misael Dominquez’s restaurant has been in the area for ten years and has never experienced a gunfight like the one on Sunday.
“There’s one here,” Dominguez said, referring to the bullet holes in the building of his Mexican restaurant. “One here. Don’t know about this. But there’s another one here.”
“Was lucky we were closed last night,” Dominguez added, according to KIRO 7. “But did you see the ones that were this high so people inside, I don’t know what could happen, you know.”
Shootings in Seattle soared to 46% in 2020, according to an annual report by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. The surging crime has led SPD to form a Gun Violence Reduction Unit, KIRO 7 reported.
The Seattle Police Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
U.S. Attorney Nick Brown, Seattle’s top prosecutor and former participant in the TV show “Survivor,” attributed America’s criminal justice system and an alleged over-incarceration problem for the surging crime, The Seattle Times reported.
Seattle practices a “catch and release” system where criminals are released on personal recognizance in extreme circumstances like capital crimes, according to My Northwest.
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