I woke up this morning to a post from my 5 year old’s Parent Teacher Student Association letting parents know that there had been a fatal shooting within feet of our elementary school. I have spent the hours since wresting with the tension point between keeping my young children safe and becoming a full blown NIMBY (“not in my backyard”) rather than a humanitarian focused on communal well being.
Organized groups of people without permanent shelter are not new in Wallingford Seattle and my neighbor Gary wrote about it here on Wallyhood just a few months ago.
The 42nd and Pasadena encampment sits just under the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge. You can throw a tennis ball from it and hit John Stanford International Elementary School, serving Kindergarten through 5th grade. It’s not tennis balls, however, that have John Stanford International School parents and educators approaching the building with fear and concern each morning. There have been multiple instances of guns (including now multiple shootings), drugs, explosions, and more. Last night, a man in Wallingford was murdered — leaving sadness, frustration and fear in this community for those in the encampment, the neighborhood and the adjacent school.
The Seattle Police Blotter details how the police responded at 11pm to a 911 call stating that a man had been shot at 5th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 42nd Street. They found the 45 year old man in a dwelling under the interstate with a gunshot wound in his side and ask that anyone with information about this incident call SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.
If you would like to have further discussion on the encampment, please reach out to KCRHA, SPD, WSDot, the Mayor, and Alex Pedersen’s office to share your view points or learn more about theirs. I have used the following resources to engage in conversation — as a parent, neighbor, Wallingford community member and humanitarian.
- KCRHA Implementation board has a meeting on Feb 8th from 2-4pm where they accept brief public testimony. You can also leave a comment for this organization using this Comment or Assistance form.
- Talk with Alex Pedersen’s office here: [email protected] or [email protected] (206) 684-880
- Reach WSDOT via James Poling [email protected]
- Send a message to the Mayor
I heard from District 4 City Councilmember, Alex Pedersen directly with the following quote and photos seen here. He has been urging the relevant agencies to be more proactive. In his note, Councilmember Pedersen shared his experience being at the site (both sides of I-5 at NE 42nd Street) yesterday morning following the shooting and the email he sent King County Regional Homelessness Authority and to State government officials (not included here) and the statement below.
“The repeated violent crimes and fires at that encampment under the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge are unacceptable and negatively impacting
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Unacceptable, let’s not let these folks, many who have given up on life, ruin the future of children in the neighborhood trying to live and learn. Get the Feds in and sweep the camp and make sure they never return. To pretend that these people are innocent victims of society who lack personal agency is a disservice to everyone involved, including them.
We’ve had 5 years to learn. These camps are a nexus for crime and the people in them are degrading by the hour. Get them into rehab, mental health treatment, housing or prison (and build as much of all these as the situation requires) – whatever fits their situation best. Done with this s*** and all the apologists who let it fester.
“The repeated violent crimes and fires at that encampment under the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge are unacceptable and negatively impacting vulnerable people experiencing homelessness…”
Oh, so now the thieving methheads living under the bridge are considered “vulnerable?” What about those of us experiencing their bullshit? Are we even on the radar of our city leaders?
It’s just incredible to me. On top of the brazen bike chop shop and the fires, there have been multiple shootings there. You’d think, with our fretting over “gun violence,” that would be enough for the city to sweep these assholes out of there. But no. We have to be “compassionate.”
King County Regional Homeless Authority has been authorized to manage this encampment. It is on state land, so there is not much our city council or Mayor can do. Please contact them to add your voice to the conversation: https://kcrha.org/contact-us/ and https://twitter.com/KC_RHA
Helpful contacts suggested by Alex Pederson:
***(KCRHA has a multi-million dollar contract from the State Department of Commerce to address encampments with WSDOT on WSDOT properties.) –emphasis mine.
People interested in getting more from the most relevant government agencies involved should contact:
the office of the CEO at KCRHA ([email protected]) or their Director of Communications ([email protected]).
WSDOT Regional Administrator Brian Nielsen at [email protected]
(KCRHA has a multi-million dollar contract from the State Department of Commerce to address encampments with WSDOT on WSDOT properties.)
Feel free to cc my office at [email protected] and our Mayor [email protected] .
Thank you for amplifying your justifiable concerns about this, which I share.