Teen killed in shooting outside Garfield High School

A 17-year-old student shot outside Garfield High School on Thursday died at Harborview Medical Center as police continued searching for the shooter.( )

The suspect is believed to be a high school-aged male, Deputy Chief Eric Barden said in a news conference.

Shots were fired in the school’s parking lot during lunch time, injuring the student. He died later Thursday at the hospital.

“I can’t use the word trauma enough to describe what our children are going through,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell, a graduate of Garfield High School, at a news conference Thursday. “This is not the first shooting at Garfield, and these kids deserve better.”( )

Thursday’s shooting comes as Garfield High nears the end of a school year riddled by gun violence and community members demanding intervention from local officials.

A student was shot in March while waiting for her bus outside the school. There was also a shooting outside the school in October and a string of nearby shootings last June that did not involve students but prompted increased security on campus.

Garfield classes are canceled Friday and Monday. Support and wellness staff members will be available Friday for drop-in counseling at Nova High School.( )

Harrell on Thursday emphasized partnership with community organizations and reiterated his stance toward investing in crime-fighting technology. He said he is directing the Seattle Police Department to enhance patrols.( )

Interim police Chief Sue Rahr said the department would “redouble” its efforts in the Central District to help students and families feel safe.

“We’re not coming in here to be hard-core policing,” Rahr said at the news conference in the Central District’s Mount Calvary Christian Center. “We’re coming into the neighborhood to gather with the community, work with the community.”

Seattle Public Schools’ website on Thursday linked to a page for Gun Violence Awareness Day, which falls on Friday.( )

“Each time I must report an incident of gun violence on or near our campus, it is tough, but this message is the hardest yet to send,” said Garfield Principal Tarance Hart in an email to families Thursday night. “I am deeply saddened by the violence in our community and profoundly disturbed by the devastating impact it continues to have on our school.”

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