The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office reports this week that deaths from gun violence during the first quarter of 2026 have dropped to its lowest point in nearly a decade.
Nine people have been killed, matching the same number in 2017, and drastically down from the peak of gun violence injuries and deaths from firearms in the first quarter of 2021 when 20 people were killed and 89 were injured.
“We’re branching out now and looking for ways to prevent that shooting from happening. And I think part of those numbers may be reflective of that effort and our successes.” said Gary Ernsdorff, the senior deputy prosecutor at the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s office who is the supervisor of the special operations unit that covers cases of drug investigations, technologically advanced cases, and officer-involved shootings.
Ernsdorff also sees some of the supporting efforts the office has done around interrupting gun violence.
He says the perspective for years has to load up resources on shooting cases that involved injuries and deaths. While still a priority, Ernsdorff says prosecuting perpetrators of shootings where no one is injured or nothing is damaged is a way to prevent a death later on.
“Somebody who’s willing to pull the trigger once is going to do it again and may do it again and again.” Ernsdorff said, “If we can catch them and focus our efforts on them before they hurt or kill somebody, we can really prevent that serious injury or death in our community.”
The report shows that, despite making up about 7 percent of the county’s population, 67 percent of gun violence victims are black.
Organizations like Community Passageways see the decreasing trend as a culmination of more than five years of effort to interrupt cycles of violence in their communities.
The organization’s founder and CEO, Dominique Davis says, it’s because several groups have come together to give help to people who are at risk of becoming a victim or perpetrator in shootings.
“It took us about this long to get the results we were able to get at this point because we had uninterrupted funding and opportunities to build together, grow together, plan together, strategize together," Davis said.
“We can share not just resources, but cross-refer participants throughout programming to make sure services are being provided for them and their families in the community.”
Davis says federal funding cuts and budget shortfalls in state, city, and county governments are putting the momentum at risk.
“Invest into the method that got us here in the first place and keep pouring resources into it and start and focus on it.” Davis said.
Resources for prosecutors and investigators, Ernsoff says are at risk too, and not just funding. Regulations for License Plate Readers at the state level, Ernsdorff said, are taking a tool from investigators.
“They’re an instant resource law enforcement for years had gone to quickly identify perpetrators and again, quickly get them off the streets.”
“I recognize privacy concerns are legitimate, but I think when people see how this technology is being used day in and day out by our law enforcement community, they wouldn’t have the concerns they do.” Ernsdorff continued.
Ernsdorff says the office has “more work to do” on gun violence prevention and intervention work. One of the tougher tasks in King County is gang violence or organized crime.
“Our street gangs are much more loose affiliations than people think of when they think of organized gangs." Ernsdorff said.
“If I were to opine on the Seattle gang problem, it’s more of a one-on-one. We need to get to the individuals that are involved in this gang activity rather than to attack an entire structure, which is kind of an amorphous and difficult challenge.”
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