Quarter one King County fatal shooting victims in single digits

Published 3:30 pm Friday, May 15, 2026

First quarter fatal shootings in King County dropped into the single digits for the first time in nine years.

According to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO), for the first time since 2017, for the first quarter of the year, fatal shootings in King County were in the single digits, with nine dead. The number of fatal shootings decreased 61% compared to its peak in 2023, when there were 26 deaths in quarter one, the KCPAO reported.

• Quarter one 2017: 8

• Quarter one 2018: 13

• Quarter one 2019: 11

• Quarter one 2020: 15

• Quarter one 2021: 17

• Quarter one 2022: 22

• Quarter one 2023: 26

• Quarter one 2024: 23

• Quarter one 2025: 13

• Quarter one 2026: 9

The number of shooting injuries is also slightly lower, with the first quarter of 2025 seeing 48 shooting injuries and the first quarter of 2026 seeing 42.

Regarding shots fired in the first quarter of the year, according to the KCPAO, since peak numbers in quarter one of 2024, specifically in South King County, there has been a 61% decrease in shots fired, and the Seattle area has experienced a 47% decrease.

“The past several years have seen unmistakable progress to reduce gun violence – that’s good news for King County and good news for our region which is preparing for FIFA,” King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said. “While Seattle and King County started this year with less gun violence than several years ago, even one death from gun violence is one too many.”

Manion said the KCPAO plans to continue building on its two-prong approach, where the office uses data to identify and intervene with individuals most at risk before they become victims or perpetrators of violence. The second part of the approach identifies who is causing the most harm in the communities and then seeks necessary accountability to interrupt their violent behavior.

Despite the number of people fatally shot in King County trending lower, the most affected demographic stayed the same.

Of the 51 shooting victims in quarter one of 2026, 67% were identified as Black or African American, 84% were identified as male, and a majority of the victims were between the ages of 18 and 39. According to the KCPAO, although the overall number of shooting victims has continued to decrease, Black or African American males remain the majority of shooting victims.

Regarding how other ethnic and racial groups were affected in quarter one of 2026, 11.8% of shooting victims were Hispanic or Latino, 11.8% were white, 3.9% were all other or multi-racial, 2% were American indian or Alaska Native, and another 2% were native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander.

According to the KCPAO, its report was compiled utilizing data from police agencies in Auburn, Bellevue, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent, Kirkland, King County Sheriff’s Office, Renton, Seattle, Tukwila and Washington State Patrol.

The data does not include suicides, officer-involved shootings, or people shot in confirmed self-defense cases.