Seattle mayor apologizes for delayed communication after festival shooting
Mayor Katie Wilson said miscommunication with police caused a multi-hour delay in releasing basic information about the Bite of Seattle shooting, and pledged new protocols to prevent a repeat.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson issued an apology on Thursday for the slow release of information following the mass shooting at the Bite of Seattle festival earlier this week. She said a miscommunication between her office and the Seattle Police Department led to an hours-long gap before basic details—such as the safety of the Seattle Center campus, the number of suspects in custody, and confirmation that the attack was not targeted at the event—were made public.
"Information could and should have gone out much faster," Wilson said in a taped statement posted to her social media accounts.
The first press conference was held at 11 p.m., roughly five hours after the shooting began at 6 p.m. Wilson acknowledged she did not realize how little information had reached the public and the press until later in the evening.
"What I did not fully understand at that moment was how little information had reached the public or the press since the incident began at 6 p.m.," she said. "Had I known that, I would have pushed for an immediate briefing rather than wait for a press conference to be organized."
An office blog post at 8:30 p.m. mistakenly reported that two suspects had been detained; it was later corrected to one. City officials, including Governor Bob Ferguson, received virtual briefings at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., hours before the public press conference. A police spokesperson delayed a media briefing at 10:30 p.m. to allow "dignitaries" to attend, and Ferguson’s office said it had no role in the city’s public messaging.
"In any tragedy like this, it is expected that elected officials will communicate with the public at the appropriate time about their coordinated efforts, express condolences, and thank responders," the governor’s office said.
Text messages released by the governor’s office show he was in contact with Wilson by 7:41 p.m. and offered to be at the campus by 9 p.m. The officials agreed to postpone an on-site event until the following morning, but the mayor proceeded to a media availability at the Seattle Center at 10:30 p.m., prompting the governor to arrive shortly before the 11 p.m. press conference.
Wilson said the criticism directed at elected officials for the delayed updates was understandable and that the city is implementing new processes and protocols to avoid similar lapses in the future.