Seattle and King County Leaders Unveil "100 Days of Action" to Address Gun Violence Epidemic
Mayor Bruce Harrell and elected officials, alongside community groups, launched 100 Days of Action on Wednesday to combat gun violence in Seattle. (Photo - City of Seattle)
By Lorcan Stokes
On Wednesday, July 10, Mayor Bruce Harrell, in collaboration with representatives from the King County Council, the Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention, and community-based organizations such as Urban Family, Alliance for Gun Responsibility, and Community Passageways, launched an initiative on Wednesday called 100 Days of Action. This new blueprint is dedicated to combating gun violence throughout Seattle.
"These 100 Days of Action come with our executive order and coupled with the leadership around the county from the mayors, the council members who are sitting, King County Council members, city council members from around the region," Bruce Harrell said. "We're all in trying to protect our community and youth. Our violence interrupters are part of it, and we're going to continue to do these investments."
In a recent news release, King County Executive Dow Constantine elaborated on the "100 Days of Action" initiative, announcing a substantial investment of $1.6 million over the next 100 days. This funding includes $1 million dedicated to growing community-based violence intervention programs and $250,000 allocated to support those affected by gun violence through the Harborview Medical Center's intervention program.
"Our office has been meeting with similar offices from jurisdictions around the country and the White House, and in these 100 days, we are not reinventing the wheel," Constantine explained. "There are other regions, other cities, other counties, that have had these short, intensive efforts, which clearly are not going to solve the problem, but have led to positive results, and based on those examples, we believe that we have no real choice but to move forward right now because whatever we are able to muster in this moment can save lives this summer."
This initiative comes in response to a recent surge in gun violence over the past year, with multiple incidents taking place in the Central District. In March, a drive-by shooting outside Garfield High School injured a 17-year-old student. Another incident saw a woman was fatally shot. Last month, another Garfield High School student, 17-year-old Amarr Murphy-Paine, was shot and killed while attempting to break up a fight. Outside the Central District, a sleeping 10-year-old girl was killed when a stray bullet hit her Skyway apartment complex earlier this year. Most recently, a 14-year-old boy was shot and killed while riding his scooter in New Holly.
Part of the initiative includes a $1.6 million investment focusing on community-based violence intervention and support for gun violence victims through Harborview Medical Center. (Photo - City of Seattle)
"This is a crisis. This is horrifying," stated King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay, who represents District 2. District 2 includes the Central District, Skyway, and South Seattle.
He continued, "The broader trends show us that this is a growing problem. More children and teenagers were killed by firearm violence halfway through this year than all of 2023 combined. The full year, and we already know how bad 2023 was, and so I am glad to see action being taken this summer."
Zahilay also proposed an additional $1 million to support a comprehensive five-part plan to address and prevent gun violence. This plan includes creating a resource database for victims, developing intervention strategies, providing tailored responses for at-risk people, and establishing a sustainable funding source for ongoing efforts.
In response to the surge in gun violence around the city, numerous organizations, such as Urban Family, have mobilized to raise awareness about this pressing issue, including being crucial in launching this initiative.
"This is really happening to our children. This is happening in our communities, and we have to work together," Urban Family Executive Director Shantel Patu said. "It's both One Seattle and Together We End Gun Violence, and it's about unity. It's about all of us, our council members, our mayor, but our community coming together, realizing that we have to do something: all of us, not just a few of us."
Urban Family had already initiated the beginning of the 100 Days of Peace campaign before this press release, organizing a traffic jam on I-5 to raise awareness about the issue of gun violence.
"This is what we're doing," Patu said. "We're trying to get your attention, so know that it takes all of us, and I'm asking for all of you to put forth your effort and let's stand up and end gun violence for our kids."
Eleuthera Lisch, strategic advisor for the Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention, emphasized that the "100 Days of Action" initiative will be modeled after successful strategies implemented in other major cities grappling with gun violence, including Baltimore, Boston, and Philadelphia.
Urban Family Shantel Patu launched the "100 Days of Peace" campaign with a traffic jam on I-5 to raise awareness about gun violence. (Photo - City of Seattle)
"Gun violence is a public health crisis," Lisch stated, noting that on June 26th, United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy officially declared it as such, citing a substantial increase in firearm-related deaths among teens and youth in recent years.
"That is a rare and reserved action that really galvanizes and asks us to look at something that we all have a responsibility in doing together," Lisch said.
Dominique Davis, Founder and CEO of Community Passageways, also spoke on Wednesday, emphasizing that a crucial part of the initiative involves addressing root issues such as poverty, mental health, lack of education, and inadequate housing.
"Gun Violence has spilled over from not being [in] marginalized and underserved and underresourced communities anymore," Dominique Davis, Founder, and CEO of Community Passageways. "It's spilled over into other communities now. We're all feeling the brunt at this point. So, this 100 days of peace in collaboration with government entities is going to be something that we're going to build off of to make it 200 days, then 300 days, and then 400 days. This has to continue."
While 100 Days of Action marks the beginning, the aim is for this initiative to lead to lasting changes well beyond the summer.
"These problems are not going to be solved in 100 days. We're awash in a sea of guns. We have tremendous challenges," Constantine said. "But one of the things that we have as a goal is to unite all of our efforts around a set of very clearshared goals so that we are making the most use of the resources we have."
