A memorial for Lorenzo Anderson, the 19-year-old who was killed at a shooting at the CHOP early Sunday morning.
A memorial for Lorenzo Anderson, the 19-year-old who was killed at a shooting at the CHOP early Sunday morning. CB
The Seattle Police Department is investigating a shooting "inside CHOP zone" late Sunday night. One person with a gunshot wound was taken to Harborview Medical Center in a private vehicle and is being evaluated "in serious condition," according to a hospital spokesperson. The victim, a 17-year-old male, arrived around 11:00 p.m. and was released without being admitted.

Video from live-streamer Shawn Whiting captured the sound of several shots fired:

The shooting comes after two other shootings near CHOP early Saturday morning, one of which resulted in the death of Lorenzo Anderson, a 19-year-old who had just graduated high school the day before, according to the Seattle Times. The other victim was "critically injured" 33-year-old man. Though no arrests have been made and an investigation is ongoing, Capitol Hill Seattle Blog cites Anderson's friends and "people close to the situation" saying he was "targeted because of a personal beef."

In the aftermath of those shootings, John Moore, a medic who treated one of the victims, expressed some confusion over Seattle Fire Department's response to the incidents. Moore told citizen journalist Omari Salisbury that Seattle Fire Chief Scoggins agreed to have the department respond into the zone "if circumstances allowed," to meet with ambulances just outside of the barricades if circumstances did not allow, or to meet at a pre-arranged rendezvous point failing all else. Moore said medics moved Anderson to the rendezvous point that night but the department was nowhere to be found.

In a statement released Sunday evening, SFD confirmed the existence of "pre-designated patient collection points...just outside the boundaries of the designated area," but said their units didn't "leave the perimeter of the scene until we received a report from one of our medic units located at Harborview Medical Center that the two shooting victims had arrived via private vehicles."

Since fire can't enter an unsecured area, several minutes after reports of the shootings a phalanx of police entered CHOP with guns raised and shields out on a mission to extract a victim, but protesters told them the victim had already been taken to the hospital.

On Monday morning SPD said they were "monitoring" a demonstration downtown when they heard reports of gunfire near Cal Anderson park. Cops and SFD staged in the area until they learned the victim had been transported to Harborview. Anyone with information on the shooting is encouraged to call the tip line: (206) 233-5000.

SPD added that cops will "coordinate contact with victims and witnesses outside the protest zone" for 9-1-1 calls coming from inside the CHOP. In a June 16 blog post, a spokesperson for Mayor Jenny Durkan's office said SPD will limit its response in the CHOP to "significant life-safety issues," including "an active shooter incident, an assault, a structure fire, significant medical emergency (i.e. heart attack, stroke, trauma) and other incidents that threaten a person’s life safety."

All of these shootings follow a June 7 incident, when Nikolas Fernandez drove into a crowd of protesters and shot Dan Gregory, who tried to stop the car. Fernandez has since been charged with assault.

Sunday afternoon a group representing approximately 25 CHOP residents released an open letter calling for restricted substance use zones, "suggested" operating hours of 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and better communication systems. "We want to raise the correct message," the letter reads. "We developed a space that could accomplish this. A hub for organizing, learning, and protesting. Before it's dismantled from inside out or vice versa, let's make a collective effort to change."

Since the first days of the protests around the East Precinct at the beginning of the month, the core "correct message" has always been the same: Defund the police, invest in Black communities, and free all protesters.

This is a developing story.