2020 King County Firearm Violence Q1-Q3

Total Shootings and Shots Fired Incidents

The numbers of firearm homicide victims, nonfatal shooting victims, and total shots fired incidents for 2020 Q1-Q3 (January-September) are listed below. This data primarily comes from the 8 jurisdictions in King County (listed below) that have historically had over 90% of firearm violence, but also includes data from many of the smaller jurisdictions in King County. This does not include suicides or officer involved shootings.

Geographic Distribution

Shootings in King County are not evenly distributed by jurisdiction. We currently collect data from over 20 agencies, but a majority the data comes from 8 agencies: Seattle, Auburn, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent, Renton, Tukwila, and the King County Sheriff’s Office (including unincorporated King County and 16 contract cities). These 8 agencies account for roughly 79% of King County’s population. In 2020 Q1-Q3, 56% of the total shots fired incidents and 54% of the shooting victims (both firearm homicide victims and non-fatal shooting victims) were from agencies outside of Seattle. Both of these are less than the three-year average for 2017–2019 in which 60% of all shots fired incidents and 58% of all shooting victims were from agencies outside of Seattle.

Historical Comparisons

The graphs below depict the total number of shots fired incidents broken down by type for Q1-Q3 2020 and the total number of non-fatal and fatal shooting victims for Q1-Q3 from 2017–2020. While the total number of shots fired incidents so far in 2020 (767) is up around 15% compared to the three year average (668), the number of overall shooting victims (256) is up nearly 39% from the three year average (184) with a 58% increase in the number of fatal shooting victims and a 34% increase in the number of non-fatal shooting victims.

Shooting Victim Demographics

Of the 256 shooting victims from 2020 Q1-Q3, 90% were male; 41% were under the age of 25; and 74% were people of color. This is similar to the three year average for shooting victims where 86% were male; 45% were under the age of 25; and 80% were people of color.

Our office launched the Shots Fired project in 2017 to take a public health approach to gun violence. By sharing data on who is most at risk for becoming a victim of gun violence, we are working to interrupt the cycle and stop future violence.

For more information, contact the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office — Crime Strategies Unit: paocsu@kingcounty.gov