Gun crime in Seattle's Central District on the rise

Seattle, Wash. — The Central District has seen five major gun crimes, including three murders, in about a week:

April 18^th, shots were fired. No one was hurt but police showed up and made an arrest.

April 19^th, a man was shot and killed in the 2200 block of East Union Street;

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April 24^th, another man was shot and killed in the 500 block of 28^th Avenue South;

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April 25^th, a man was shot but survived during a failed robbery early in the morning.

Later in the evening on April 25^th a man was shot and killed near the intersection of 28^th Avenue and South Charles Street;

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The gun violence has Gregory Banks fed up.  Banks grew up in the Central District and leads the youth mentoring program standing in the Gap Seattle.

“We need to stand up and say we're not going to take this anymore,” he said. “When we see a group of young people standing on the corner, we need to come out and say ‘You can't do this here, you need to go somewhere else’ “

During the same week in 2013, there were two assaults and four robberies in the Central District, but none were nearly as violent as this year’s events.  The Seattle Police Gang Unit is investigating at least three of the five recent gun crimes; however, police have not said if any of them are linked.

“We must find a way to bring back gun control with laws strong enough to where our young people cannot easily access these weapons,” said Rev. William Sheppard, who leads the Walker Chapel AME Church.

Walker Chapel will host a vigil Wednesday April 30^th at 6 p.m. focusing on the violence.

KIRO