{"id":661645,"date":"2026-05-24T04:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T04:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/661645\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T04:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T04:00:11","slug":"aurora-avenue-neighbors-revolt-blocking-off-street-access-after-yet-another-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/661645\/","title":{"rendered":"Aurora Avenue neighbors revolt, blocking off street access after yet another shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

One week ago, bullets blasted through the wall of a Greenwood neighborhood home and passed within inches of a window where a six-week-old baby boy was sleeping in his bassinet.<\/p>\n

Saturday morning, roughly 40 shell casings were on the pavement near Aurora Avenue N. and N. 98th Street in Seattle after another shootout near the Burgermaster.<\/p>\n

By daylight, the neighbors had had enough.<\/p>\n

Residents along Seattle\u2019s North Aurora corridor stopped waiting on City Hall. They hauled in large industrial steel planters and blocked off three residential side streets at N. 97th, 98th, and 102nd Streets near where they meet Aurora Avenue N. Neighbors said a representative from the mayor\u2019s office and the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) came out to push back. They were waved off.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re honestly not thinking long term right now,\u201d one neighbor said, asking not to be identified out of fear of retribution from pimps and dealers operating along the Aurora Avenue corridor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re sick of this,\u201d he added, citing a lack of action from city leaders. \u201cWe\u2019re going to close the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seattle Greenwood neighborhood shooting: baby nearly hit by gunfire one week ago<\/p>\n

Last Saturday, bullets came through the wall of Jake\u2019s home near N. 98th Street and Linden Avenue N. in Seattle\u2019s Greenwood neighborhood. His surveillance camera captured men ducking behind a car, then opening fire as an SUV drove past. Some shots hit near the window where his six-week-old was sleeping.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could have lost my six-week-old beautiful baby boy,\u201d Jake, who asked that his last name not be shared, told KIRO 7<\/a>. \u201cI haven\u2019t. I can\u2019t. I\u2019m unwilling to process that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gunfire erupted three more times in the two nights that followed. Jake told KIRO 7 he reached out to public officials for help. Most haven\u2019t replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love our neighbors, we love this city, but the city\u2019s not taking care of us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe feel abandoned. I want the city to actually name the problem, which is Aurora.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearby Greenwood resident Peter Orr, who runs a block watch, said he lost count of the shots Sunday night, estimating nearly 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try not to talk at length with my kids about it,\u201d he said. \u201cDeep inside, I think we\u2019ve got to do something about this before I can\u2019t tell them that anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the neighbors wrote on the Aurora Avenue planter<\/p>\n

Organizers attached a letter to each of the planters. Its message was direct.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor more than three years, many of us have been engaging almost daily with city officials, law enforcement, SDOT, and other local agencies to find both immediate and long-term solutions,\u201d the letter read. \u201cHomes have been hit by gunfire, narrowly missing children. Our military veterans, thinking they\u2019d found a peaceful neighborhood, are now suffering from PTSD.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter notes that after last summer\u2019s Aurora Avenue shootout, which drew national attention, SDOT agreed to close two residential streets at Aurora and planned to close several more. That order never came from the mayor\u2019s office. The gun violence moved deeper into the Seattle neighborhood instead.<\/p>\n

Aurora Avenue sex trafficking and gun violence: three years of complaints to Seattle city officials<\/p>\n

A Google Street View image of N. 97th Street and Aurora Avenue N. in Seattle shows a woman walking mostly undressed in front of the Public Storage building during the day. Residents said it is not an outlier. It is a typical afternoon.<\/p>\n

Seattle City Council District 5 Councilmember Debora Juarez posted her first public statement on the Aurora Avenue gun violence Thursday, two days before Saturday morning\u2019s shootout.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should not live in fear of being shot by a gun in our homes or community,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

She cited Seattle Police Department (SPD) staffing cuts, noting the department has shrunk from roughly 1,203 deployable officers in 2020 to about 861 today.<\/p>\n

For Seattle neighbors who hear gunfire nearly every night along N. Aurora Avenue, the statement landed as a list of procedural points. Forty-eight hours after it posted, the rounds were flying again on 98th Street.<\/p>\n

KIRO Newsradio has reached out to the mayor\u2019s office, SDOT, and Councilmember Juarez for comment on the planters and is awaiting responses.<\/p>\n

The planters are staying put.<\/p>\n

A resident told us there is no definitive plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just thinking about getting through the weekend without somebody being killed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSeattle\u2019s Morning News<\/a>\u201d has reached out to the mayor\u2019s office for comment.<\/p>\n

Charlie Harger is the host of\u00a0\u00a0on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries\u00a0. Follow Charlie\u00a0\u00a0and email him\u00a0.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Follow @https:\/\/twitter.com\/kirocharlie<\/a><\/p>\n

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