Police add extra patrols around high school after teen was shot

SEATTLE -- Extra police officers circled the campus of Garfield High School, a day after a shooting nearby.

Seattle police say that shooting injured a teenager and so far the shooter hasn’t been caught.

Throughout the day Tuesday,  several Seattle police cars could be seen driving around campus.



Police said the extra patrols are in addition to the school resource officers already on campus, all of it hoping to calm a community on edge.

“Of course we found it very upsetting. It’s our neighborhood, it’s our community and whenever violence like that comes so close to home it’s upsetting,” said Amie Bishop, whose son is a sophomore at Garfield High School.

The community around the school was rocked by gunshots on Monday afternoon when police a 17-year-old boy was shot in the shoulder about a block from the high school.

That shooting happened just before 4 p.m. at 23rd Avenue and East Cherry Street.

Police said the injured teen made his way to the Teen Life Center, which is right next to the school.

“I saw stories on snap chat of people locked up in the gym. They said there was a shooting at the baseball field so I asked what was wrong,” said Jasmine, a senior at Garfield.

The injured teen was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he is expected to be OK.

“I don’t normally see that many police cars just patrolling the neighborhood, so I guess it’s unusual. I guess it would make feel safer, yeah,” said Jasmine as she left school for the day.

The shooting comes just days into this school year and now parents are left talking to their kids about what happened

“First of all we’ll talk to him about what he feels he needs to do, but then there’s the larger issue about why is this happening and what can we do as a community to reduce this kind of violence that’s happening,” added Bishop.

The Seattle Parks and Recreation Department runs the Teen Life Center and they said they will encourage kids to talk to each other about what happened. The staff at the center will watch for signs that a teen may need counseling and if that’s the case, they’ll work with parents to make sure they get it.

In the end, they want students and parents to know that campus is still a safe place.

Police say the shooter is described as an African- American male believed to be in his mid to late teens.

He was described as being about 5’5” and was seen wearing a black and white polo shirt and black jeans.

Even though police don’t know if this is a gang-related shooting, they have the gang unit investigating.